


Firefly

by ThomE_Gemcity_06



Series: Fly [3]
Category: NCIS
Genre: AU, Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Coercion, F/M, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, PTSD, Romance, Stockholm Syndrome, Terrorism, Torture, crime/mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-07-27 13:20:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7619647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThomE_Gemcity_06/pseuds/ThomE_Gemcity_06
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shelby returns after his tour to Gibbs and Kate.</p>
<p>
  <i>(I seem to have forgotten to post the prologue to this story, but I have now fixed that mistake).</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to: Damselfly and Dragonfly.

The first month that Shelby was gone overseas, the air was so tense around Gibbs and Kate that a butter-knife wasn't even needed to cut through it. Everyone could feel it, and even Tony had cut down on his sarcastic remarks and movie references. Things had changed drastically since the revealing of Shelby and Kate's relationship--specifically between the two Agents.

They barely spoke with each other, and instead glared across their desk-tops at each other. Neither seemed willing to give an inch until mid the second month into their new relationship. DiNozzo and McGee were out in the field tailing a lead. And Gibbs and Kate were partnered up, closing in on the killer of a Coreman.

They went into his house with their guns drawn; Gibbs in the front, Kate in the back, Tony and Tim on their way in the form of back up. Gibbs cleared downstairs and Kate went up.

Gibbs had just finished clearing downstairs when he heard a shout from upstairs; Kate. Gibbs fought the urge to rush up the stairs when he heard the banging of footsteps, gunshots and the thump of something or someone landing on the floor above his head. He slowly made his way up the stairs. He peeked over the edge, keeping from sight. He couldn't see Kate, but he sure could see the killer. His back was to him as he fired his weapon through the wall and into the other room where Gibbs assumed Kate had dived for cover. He couldn't hear her return cover fire and just hoped that she wasn't hit and staying under cover.

"Hey!" Gibbs yelled.

The guy stopped shooting and just turned to him when Gibbs fired through the railing. His head jerked back and fell to the floor, blood leaking from his cheek.

Gibbs went the rest of the way up the stairs and to the downed body. He kicked the killer’s gun away before he entered the washroom. The tiles that covered the small room were all shattered and the floor was covered in dust and shards. The mirror above the sink was shot-up and so was the small window.

"Kate," He said. "It's clear." He couldn't see her and waited for an answer.

And it was a moment before he got it, one long, dread filled moment.

"Gibbs?" Kate groaned and sat up in the tub. Gibbs looked at her with a raised brow; her dark hair was powered white, and there was a layer of it on her skin and her clothing, small cuts from porcelain shards bleed pink. She cleared her throat, "I assume by the lack of gunfire that you killed the bastard?"

"Yup." He nodded.

Kate looked away for a moment, quiet, before she looked back at her Partner. "Thanks."

Gibbs looked back at her. "...Never turn your back on your Partner."

They locked gazes, and something shifted back to what it was before this triangle mess. But it wasn't just something old returned, something new and solid was built into it. Their dynamic improved.

" _Gibbs! Kate!"_ Tony's voice reached their ears from downstairs.

"Looks like backup's arrived." Kate said dryly.

"Up here, DiNozzo!" Gibbs smiled as he stepped to the tub and held out a helping hand. DiNozzo and McGee came stomping up the stairs. Kate took his hand and he pulled her up. She tucked her Sig. back in the holster and Tony popped his head in the doorway. 

"Looks like you got him, boss."

"And you're as late as always, DiNozzo." Gibbs said.

Tony frowned. "This can't possibly be my fault, boss!" He protested.

"Wrong again, Tony." Kate stepped from the tub, and wiped at her face with the cleanest part of her sleeve. "You always insist on driving, yet do so like an elderly woman."

"Call it in, Tony." Gibbs ordered before Tony could speak again. He and Kate passed the Senior Agent in the doorway.

They were outside when Ducky, an ambulance, and Forensic Team arrived. Gibbs looked Kate up and down before he spoke.

"You should get that checked out, Kate."

"It's just a few cuts, Gibbs." Kate returned.

"I wasn't talking about those, I was talking about this." And he pucked at the upper part of her jacket sleeve.

Kate looked down at her arm and her brows shot up her forehead as she grasped her arm. "How could I have not noticed that?" She asked. On her arm her sleeve was torn, both her jacket and the shirt sleeve underneath, her tender flesh was torn by a bullet that had taken her unawares.

"Adrenaline, Kate. It courses through you blood even before an actual gun fight. Helps you ignore the pain until it wears off-- and then you're in trouble."

Kate didn't like the sound of that, she knew it was coming soon, too, because she could feel her heart rate slowing, and a slow burn in her arm. She didn't protest much to going and seeing a paramedic now.

The next month it wasn't glaring so much. The tension was almost but gone. Near death experiences like that tend to do that to a pair. It was slow, but that was how everything got going.

They both wrote letters to Shelby each week, and got three letters returned to them at the end of each month from Shelby; one for Gibbs, one for Kate, and one that they were both supposed to read together. They honoured Shelby's request, not matter their feelings towards each other at the time of the reading.

By the fifth month they had arranged to have a meal together as Shelby latest letter had suggested once again, and they had finally given into the man's request, what harm could it do anyhow? It was awkward to say the least.

It was a week into the sixth month that Gibbs got called up to MTAC.

" _Special Agent Gibbs, I'm Colonel Aaron Hanks. I lead the unit of Marines down here in Israel. I'm not privy to tell you our mission down here, that's classified, sir. But I did put in this request to call you out of respect, Gibbs... to inform you that as of 6 days ago, Petty Officer Shelby Jackson Gibbs has been classified as MIA."_

"You've waited 6 days to inform me?!" Gibbs demanded loudly. He was too pissed to even let it sink in properly.

Hanks breathed heavy, feeling shame. " _It wasn't official until four days ago, Gibbs. He was on a mission when he failed to report in on the scheduled time. We've been searching since he failed the first check-in time. I was unable to get airtime until now."_

"Tell me what you have, I want to know everything! Colonel." Gibbs said.

" _I can't tell you the circumstance in which the PO went Missing, Gibbs. That's all classified_."

"Then un-classify it, Colonel!" The older man ordered. "My son has gone missing under your watch, I want him found, Hanks. And so help you God if my son is dead."

" _He's one of our own, Gibbs. We'll stop at nothing to find him, don't you worry about that."_

"For your sake, I hope that's enough, Colonel Hanks." Gibbs voice was low and dangerous.

Hanks nodded, his face grim as he signed off and gave Gibbs static. The security room was quiet as Gibbs didn't move. This news starting to sink in fully. He was angry, angry as he had been when he was told of Shannon and Kelly; he had been at war himself. But this was different, his son was not dead, he knew that in his gut and most certainly in his heart. If he lost Shelby he would have nothing left. Not even his father could mend the blackness it would leave. Hell would come and pay the Earth a visit if anything happened to Shelby.

Hanks wouldn't tell him what his son was up to, so he'd make the Director. After he got as much information as he could, he would inform Kate because she was the only one. Afterwards, people better get on board or out of the way because Gibbs was taking no prisoners.

He meeting with the Director seemed fruitless at the moment, but would pay up in full later in the day. Now, it was Kate.

When Gibbs came down the stairs, Kate need only look at the man to know that something was deadly wrong. It was nothing to do with the case, this was something different. Some silent message passed between their locked gazes as he passed her to the elevator, she stood and followed, Tony looking after them in confusion.

Kate stepped into the elevator with Gibbs and when the doors closed, he flipped the emergency switch and it stopped, the lights going dim. Kate looked up at him, his hard expression was cast in dark shadows.

"Gibbs?" She asked, concerned and fearful.

Gibbs looked back at her. "Shelby's missing." He stated bluntly. As much as he wanted to cushion the blow for the woman, it would get them nowhere. Now was not the time to beat around the bush.

Kate gasped, "What? Are you--"

"Of course I'm sure! I just got done talking to his unit leader." Gibbs told her, "He's been missing for the last 6 days, Kate."

"What! And they've waited this long to inform us?" Her heart was hammering, her brain was wild. She wanted to scream and cry, the emotion wanted to drag her to the floor, but she fought it. It'd been 6 months since she'd seen Shelby's face. Now, he was missing. Gibbs was holding it together and she knew that she had to as well, for the three of them. "What are we going to do, Gibbs?"

"I've spoken with the Director, he's getting Shelby's mission declassified." Gibbs said. "It'll be a few hours before we hear anything."

"We have to wait? I can't wait over something like this, Gibbs!" She protested.

"Well, find a way, Kate." He growled. "God knows I'm trying."

"What if he's--"

Gibbs smacked her on the back of the head before she could finish that line of thought. It was a rare occasion when he did this to her, but this occasion warranted it. She sucked in a breath, the action forcing her anxiety down.

"I never want to hear you say that, Kate, or even think it. Shelby's not. You would feel it, I would feel it. As he tells me often; he's not kid. He strong. And smart. If we can't find a way to him--he'll find a way to us."

end of prologue--

 


	2. Prologue

_He smiled across the way at her as he spotted her in the growing crowd. People were everywhere, faceless, blending together as they brushed past each other. But he spotted her anyways. He would always spot her. He waved his hand above his head, trying to gain her attention, but she was looking elsewhere. He moved, nicely shouldering his way through the throng, but it was as if they suddenly stopped moving. Purposefully standing still in his path to her, as if they didn't want him to reach her. But he would, he would always reach her, he told herself. They were like statues against his strength, unmoveable. He wasn't making an inch in his path to her. He opened his mouth, making to call to her, but suddenly, the quiet was shattered and everyone started to talk at once, drowning anything he would have called out. They started to move again, not fast, but with force. Pinging him around like he was in a pinball machine, taking him farther away from her. He turned anxious, fearful that they would take her away from him. He fought harder, against the flow of people. She was growing further and further away though she stayed still, it was him who was getting further away. He called her name, loud and scared, as people moved in front of her like a wave, swallowing her, pulling him away. And then she was swallowed, and so was he._

**_"KATE!"_ **

Shelby gasped in fear, his tired and mauled body seizing with it. Her name was in his head, loud and clear, but it reached his ears dry and hoarse. His dull green hues adjusted to the dingy light without force, they were used to it by now, it was all they had known for day after day after day. His brief pass out from exhaustion had given the aching throb in his shoulders a brief loss of connection to his brain, but that was no longer true now. They took the brunt of his weight from how he was left hanging from the ceiling, his wrists' chained, his toes _just_ not touching the cold crock floor. The smell that lingered in the stale air was his own, the only time he got 'cleaned'--if one could call it that--was when his head and shoulders were forced deep into a bin of murky water. Soiled as it was, he used this 'bonding time' to quench his thirst--he didn't kn ow when another opportunity would come. It has been two days since he had eaten, but he had 'drunk' just yesterday.

He couldn't remember the last time he had the hot desert sun beating hotly on his covered back. The only reason he was aware of the days past, was because behind him was a two by 1 1/2 by 2 ft. window near the ceiling that was boarded up, there was a rotted hole in one of the boards barely a centimetre big that allowed him a glimpse of the passing sun. But craning his neck around to see it for just 2 seconds took a lot out of him.

His mind was barley plotting along now, it took him energy to think; of ways to escape his capture, a way of not talking, of ways not scream. Her face was the only thing that he saw behind his eyelids now, and even that was as blurry as his reality sight--it hadn't been crisp clear for a long while. But sometimes--against his will--her face was replaced by the repeat play of the day he was first captured.

_It was five months into his tour in Israel, somewhat the same as his one in Afghanistan yet completely different. He'd believed that all his time spent in Washington after his 1st tour had softened him and he'd forgotten how things went, but after the first month that rang wrong. His muscle memory worked its magic and soon, everything else followed--his brain, heart, lungs and stomach._

_He missed Kate and Gibbs and Jackson, but Colonel Hanks kept him busy, made it so that his mind had to focus on what was right in front o f him and around him, instead of what was in another Country. He sent them letters when he could write and the supply run went out. And read the letters that they sent back when he wasn't on a mission and staying at the temporary headquarters that was set up. At first, he could tell by their letters that the two of them weren't getting on like he had hoped, and instead there was that barred-teeth feeling. So he sent a letter that was addressed to both his girlfriend and his father. But a couple months later that their tone towards each other changed back to what it was before, and though the event that caused this caused himself to worry, he was glad that the were as close as he wanted them to be._

_On the first of the sixth month, Hanks had shared intelligence with Shelby and a Marine tactical until about the terrorist group that they were specifically assigned to locate and dismantle before they established terrorist cells in the United States. Shelby was to scout out the coordinates of the groups next supply drop, and if the information rang true, call in the unit to do the take down. Any captives would be held and interrogated for further information on the group._

_Shelby and his partner, PO Henry Anderson, set up on a sand dune that was 50 meters from the sight, and under camouflage, waited. It was five hours before there was any movement, other than Anderson--Shelby could lay motionless for as long as was required of him, while Anderson was newer to this. An old truck, the back covered with a bulging tarp, and a beat-up van pulled in. Shelby spied through his scope while Anderson called it in; 5 Israeli men, and 1 American._

_Anderson was a young guy, fresh to the Marines and his post. While Shelby had his attention focused on his target, Anderson was supposed to be Shelby's scout--keeping an eye on their surroundings and looking out for trouble; covering Shelby's six. Shelby didn't mind having the new-kid-on-the-block assigned with him, he had nothing against the PO. They were all green at one point, and he had nothing personal against the kid--though Anderson was but a few years younger than him in civilian-years, Shelby had more than a dozen military-years on him. Anderson failed to recognize the signs of a setup and an ambush._

_Before Shelby could realize what happened, Anderson lay dead next to him, a sniper's bullet in his brain. There were 3 of them, not including the sniper that murdered poor Anderson who never saw it coming. The Israeli men wore scarves over their heads, Shelby never saw their faces. He fought back of course, even against three men he got more than a few punches, kicks, and head butts in. Skilled as he was, their superior numbers won him over as they clubbed him in the back of the head. He fell to the sand, his vision turned black before its time as a black hood was shoved over his head and his hands were bound tightly behind his back. He was in and out of consciousness as they carried him to a hidden vehicle, where they threw him in the trunk and drove to what he assumed at this time an abandoned building, that carried no other business through it except for himself._

_He was pulled from the trunk, escorted inside--and taken into the room that he hasn't left since--he had already been cleaned of all his weapons and radio before they even put him in the trunk. And now, he was stripped of everything else: cap, boots, socks, belt, pants, jacket, T-shirt, muscle shirt and the thing that identified him--his dog tags. He was left in his underwear. He was shoved into a chair roughly and bound there._

_Though his sight was blackened out, Shelby still had his hearing and his snipers 'sixth-sense'. There was movement all around him, by the feel of it, there had to be at least three men. He thought that it was working for him, but he never saw--or more 'sensed'-- the first punch in the long line of many that bruised his jaw; to go along with his cut brow and bruised ribs. It hurt like a bitch, maybe more than any delivered from his first fight because he hadn't seen this one coming. He was scared, of course he was, but the anger at his partner's death and the shame of getting in this situation blocked it out. The hood was jerked off his head, and it didn't take long before his eyes adjust to the dimness that would be all he knew for months._

_He had been right. There were three men in the room with him. All Israeli, but only one with their face covered. Shelby recognized that this man ought to be an important one, his face covered so as not to be recognized if every Shelby got free. From what he could tell, the man was older, and though he looked to have more weight at his stomach, if that punch was anything to go by, he was not to be underestimated. There was a younger man, face uncovered, standing next to the room's closed door, and AK-47 in his palms. Close to Shelby, was the last man, his face uncovered as well, though he was wearing a loose fitting jacket, the muscles underneath were obvious._

_Shelby's lips twisted in disgust as he looked at them. He had no words, so he showed what he really thought about these people in his presence through his clear green gaze. Though he couldn't see the Interrogator’s mouth, Shelby knew by the way that the cloth shifted that the man was smiling. He saw the punch coming this time, but the blow hurt the same nonetheless. He grunted. But that was it and he went back to glaring at his captor. What else could he do? He knew that talking back would only cause him more pain, so against his talkative nature, he said nothing. He got another punch for his troubles, though it wasn't from his Interrogator, but the man next to him, the Dog. Shelby was correct about the muscle._

_Finally the Interrogator spoke, Shelby had been waiting for this, and it wasn't even in English. As it turns out, the man wasn't even speaking to Shelby, instead, to his Lap Dog, who nodded silently, his arms crossed over his chest._

_The old er man turned of his heels after delivering one more punch, and the Guard at the door opened it, and as he stepped through, Shelby got a glimpse of an empty hall and another Guard that stood at the outside of his prison, and then the door closed again. Four men so far, there was no way to tell whether the man outside his door, or any inside, were the sniper that killed Anderson or stuffed him in the trunk._

_Shelby's mind was pulled from these thoughts as the Dog stepped up in front of him, a grin on his lips, his straight, pearly-white teeth flashing. Shelby instead focused on this man. They were around the same age. He was 5'9". His eyes were a colour of brown that was very near to Kate's, with flecks of green that was the colour of his own--great intelligence sparked behind those hues. His hair was dark and trimmed short around his ears, cut even at the back, with short, spiky bangs that didn't even reach the center of his forehead. His shoulder's were broad and though he looked lean, Shelby knew what lay underneath his dusted clothing. The Dog was a very handsome man, so good-looking and charming even with that scary grin, that if any women were around, they would swoon by just his gaze flicking in their direction for a brief moment._

_And then the Dog spoke, and Shelby felt relief that he spoke English (though with an accent, which was to be expected), and dread at the words that were spoken._

_"You will tell us all you know of terrorist group that is set up here, as well as any such person that is being held captive by your Government, what they have told you, and where they are being held."_

_Shelby looked at the man for a long moment as he took a rather deep breath through his tight ribs, as if to string together a long sentence; this is what he said. "Go. To. Hell."_

_The grin fell from the Dog's lips and they went straight. He struck Shelby, his frown the only warning--once, twice, thrice._

_Blood gather ed in Shelby's mouth and he spat it out before looking back up at the other man, his fists clenched tight in their bindings, he licked his lips. "No. Comment."_

_The Dog followed through with a familiar action._

_And that was just the beginning._

_Shelby had been wrong to believe that the old man would be the interrogator, he didn't have to worry about seeing the man for a long while. The Dog, on the other hand, would be the face that he always saw. Now, later, when he closed his eyes... everywhere, all the time--even when the man wasn't in front of him\--that was all he’d ever see._

Those were the days. It was so easy back than, so simple. He missed that chair greatly. He spent his first month in that thing, now it sat in the far corner, only used when the Dog pulled it into the center of the room and settled in front of Shelby and just watched the PO. Just watched, and nothing else--no contact, no voice. Shelby'd look right back, even now, his gaze blurred, his eyes half swollen shut. He also missed the punches, those were rare in occasion now. Now, it was other things, worse things. Things that made him cry out when punches didn't. And the list seemed to grow bigger by the day.

** Chapter I end-- **

 


	3. II

Gibbs had found out that early on, just because your only son was kidnapped by terrorists, doesn't mean that you can declassify the mission that got him there in the first place. This did not sit well with the man. He was not going to _sit_ at all in fact. He was going to pull every  resource he had, and cash in every favour that was owed to him. He wanted information, damned if no one was going to give it to him. He couldn't trust anyone with a proper search for his son but himself. No matter what the Director said, he was going over there. But it seemed that no matter the pull, no matter the favours, he was stranded. Put on a no fly list! But that was not going to stop Leroy Jethro Gibbs. It hasn't yet, and he had no plans of tarnishing that unstoppable record yet.

It was a month later that Gibbs got news that was tied with the news that he had gotten about Shannon and Kelly sixteen years before. They had discovered a burned corpse in the sand, the only thing to identify him was his dog tags. One Petty Officer Shelby Jackson Gibbs. Gibbs didn't believe it for one second; he needed more proof than simple dog tags. He demanded that the body be flown back to Washington ASAP and driven to NCIS headquarters so that Ducky could do a proper autopsy and I.D. of the body.

It arrived a week later.

"Tell me what you've got, Duck." Gibbs said, before he was even fully through the autopsy doors.

"Jethro, I have yet to even open the crate." Ducky told him, taking one of the crowbars from Palmer, he placed the end in the crease. Palmer was about to do the same on the other side, but Gibbs took it from him and popped up the fours nails before Ducky finished with his third.

They set the crowbars aside and removed the lid.

"Well, well, my dear lad," Ducky said, looking down in the crate. "Though you're not as handsome as you once were, they handled you with care." The body was burned black and shrunken, unrecognizable. "Mr. Palmer?" He looked at his assistant.

"Of course, doctor!" Palmer hurried over and helped Ducky lift the body out of the crate and moved it to the clear autopsy table.

"Well, Duck?" Gibbs asked again, growing impatient as the pit in his stomach widened.

"Jethro..." Ducky said with sympathy as he gave the body a quick once over for his pre-examination. "The body is burnt rather severely, Jethro. Traditional means of getting an I.D. might not do it, but I'll go through them all, be assured of that. Abigail will call you with the results."

But Gibbs didn't budge, he crossed his arms and planted his feet. "I'm not going anywhere on this one, Ducky."

Ducky nodded his understanding and went to work. He took dental impressions; even though some teeth were broken or missing. He tried to find bone marrow and tissue that wasn't too badly burned, and then he found something interesting in his examination of the bones. "Mr. Palmer, the X-ray machine, would you, please?" Palmer was on the move instantly.

"Ducky?" Gibbs questioned, coming stand next to him. "What did you find?" Would this be the thing would prove or disprove if this was Shelby?

"Metal."

"Metal?" Gibbs stepped up to the table and peered closely at the blackened bone that Ducky held in his latex gloved hands. The man could feel the pit in his stomach shudder to a stop; his instincts as a father told him that something good was about to come of this situation.

Palmer returned, with the portable x-ray machine and set it up. The three men stood behind the lead screen as it took the pictures. Palmer put the machine away as Ducky printed out the results and stuck them on the board. He flicked on the light and the pictures lit up.

"Hm." Ducky reported as he studied them. They confirmed as he had first suspected.

"Duck!" Gibbs stood beside the doctor. "I've waited long enough to know whether or not this is my son."

"My apologies, Jethro." Ducky said sincerely. "As I had suspected before, these are pins in the femur bone. Put there to mend the broken bone little over two years ago." He reported. Gibbs was quiet as he looked at Ducky. It wasn't his usual angry-silence, it was an intense stare of honest-relief. "Jethro?"

"It's not him, Ducky." Gibbs said. "It's not Shelby!"

"That's honest good news, Jethro." Ducky gave his arm a squeeze, but his gaze saddened as he looked at the body. "But we still have a unidentified Marine on my table."

Gibbs nodded and gazed at the body as well. He was glad that it wasn't Shelby on that table, but someone else had just lost a son or a daughter.

"Call me if you have anything else." He told the doctor.

"Where are you off to now?"

"I'm gonna pay a visit to Abby."

**chapter II break--**

Gibbs hadn't expected Abby to get result so soon, but as soon as he stepped into her lab, she shut off her music and turned to him.

"Gibbs... I got results!"

Gibbs' brows raised. "I'm waiting, Abs."

"The first thing I did when I got the samples from Ducky was run any DNA that they got against Shelby's. I didn't get a hit, Gibbs. The body that they got back isn't his!"

"I know, Abby." Gibbs told her.

"You-- what? But how?" Abby asked, not that she was all that surprised. "Wait!" She stopped him before he could say anything. "I know how. It was fatherly instinct, wasn't it? I knew it! You were in daddy-mode, weren't you, Gibbs?"

Gibbs couldn't help but smile at that. "Did you have anything else, Abby?" He said instead.

She nodded rapidly and turned back to her computer and Gibbs stood beside her. "After there wasn't a DNA match with Shelby, I ran it against all the Marines, female and male that had been shipped out to Israel within the last year. I got to say Gibbs, it was a lot of names. But I got a match as you left the elevator."

"Put it on the big screen, wouldya?" Gibbs walked to the plasma and Abby put her results up. " _P.O. Henry Anderson. Joined the Corps three years ago. This is his first tour. Twenty-three years old. His mother and father are alive, and he has two younger siblings."_ He read to himself. He glanced back at her. "Abs, any--"

"--Connection with Shelby? You're on the money, bossman!" Abby highlighted a blacked out section in his service file. "He was shipped over to Israel seven months ago, same as Shelby. They were even aboard the same carrier, Gibbs."

Gibbs spun from the wide screen, and gave Abby a peck on the cheek. "Tell Ducky what you found, would you?" He told her, distracted, and turned to leave.

"Gibbs!" Abby protested when he was half-way out the door.

"What is it, Abs?" He turned to her, he couldn't afford to be distracted now. The fact that the body wasn't Shelby's, but the tags were, got him thinking that they really wanted to keep his son if they went through all the trouble of masquerading his death. Did Shelby have a piece of information that these terrorists depended on? Otherwise, why would they kill Anderson and not Shelby?

"You're going to find him, Gibbs." She told him simply.

He gave her a smile and got into the elevator. Time to put some more pressure on the Director.

**chapter II break…**

2 months later...

Nothing.

They'd stopped actively looking for his son. There were no leads. They'd given up in his son and Gibbs felt betrayed. Much like he felt when he was given the news about Shannon's and Kelly's deaths. He had been pulled back to active duty then and he because he served his Country so unquestionabley, as a reward half his family was taken away. And because Shelby wanted to make his father proud, Gibbs was going to lose another piece of his heart.

He couldn't accept this fact, not after all that had happened for him to get his son back into his life. He wasn't going to let go of his son this easily again.

No fly list or not, he would find a way. He didn't care if it cost him his job as an NCIS Agent, or if it landed him in Leavenworth--just as long as it was after he found his son.

Somehow, someone who wasn't supposed to get wind of his plan, got plenty. And just as he was about to put into play the first part of his mission, he was taken into custody by none other than Tobias Fornell.

"You better let me outta here, Fornell! Or this'll be the last thing you ever do!" Gibbs yelled through the bars, everything about his said: _I'll Ripe Your Fucking Head Off!_

Fornell looked at him with sympathy. "I'm sorry, Jethro. But this is for your own good," he turned from his friend and started to walk away.

"But not for my son's! You're killing my him, Tobias. I'll never forgive you if he dies..."

**chapter II break…**

5 months later...

His skin was so hot. He was baking. The surface of him and the inside; like Hades. Shelby had believed that his body could no longer feel pain such a this, the kind that made him moan and thrash, but he was wrong--just like about so many other things. He'd come used to the pain that was applied to him by the Dog, but the man had found something new, something that touched the tips of his numbed nerves. 

This fire that crawled across every inch of his exposed flesh...

His body spasmed, trying to squeeze out the precious moisture that wanted to come from the corners of his closed eyes so badly. But none came because there was none to be had--he'd run out of tears such a long time ago.

He writhed, his hands grasping, expecting nothing but getting roughness. It didn't register with his brain. All he ever felt was pain... and fear. And that was all he ever expected anymore. He'd lost hope a long time ago:

Of life beyond that boarded-up window…

Of hugging his father again…

Of setting his gaze on the woman whose face he'd forgotten...

...Of anything…

The pain was too much and he couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't fight any longer. He let the pain consume him, wholly and proper. This was all he even knew anymore--so he let it take him away...

**Chapter II end--**


	4. III

After a few hours in the cell, and the facade of having a cool head, Fornell had no choice but to release Gibbs. Of course, the instant that that door was open, all bets were off.

"Listen, Jethro--!" the other man started, he didn't get very far speech-wise; his body on the other hand did as Gibbs body slammed him.

Gibbs pinned him to the floor with a knee to his chest, one hand gripping the knot of his tie tightly. "My son is out there being tortured and God knows what else, and you lock me up?!" He roared down at the man who he had considered friend in other days that were not this one. "Give me one simple reason why I shouldn't break your neck right here and now, and be on my way to saving my son?" In fact, he didn't know why he wasn't already out of here.

Fornell stared up at him mildly, though there was a faint gleam of pain in his eyes (being tackled to the floor never did anyone any good, especially in this time in his life), his voice steady, "Because you know that you can't lose another person in your life, even if it's me."

Gibbs grimaced. "My son's life is worth more than your will ever be, Fornell." He retorted. "Next,"

Fornell sighed silently, the knee in his chest wasn't helping. "Because if you really were gonna snap my neck, you would have done it already. But the fact is that deep down you know that you going over there isn't going to solve anything, but getting you killed, and you wanted to be stopped."

Gibbs growled as he glared down at Fornell, before he released the man's crumpled tie and levered himself to his feet. "My son is _not_ dead, Fornell!"

Fornell rolled to his knees, and grunted with effort as he climbed to his feet. "I believe you, Jethro. I know--"

"Shut up!" Gibbs looked at him with cold ice in his eyes. "I never want to see your face again, Fornell." And he turned, and left, leaving his best-friend behind.

That was five months ago, and Gibbs hadn't seen Fornell since. Neither had he seen N.C.I.S. HQ for the same amount of time. It was that place that had saved him after Shannon and Kelly had gone, and he'd driven Shelby away. But if Shelby was gone--really gone--then nothing could save him from drowning. So he dedicated himself to finishing Kelly's boat.

When the door bell rang, he ignored it. He didn't order any takeout, when Kate came to see him (which was frequent) she never knocked; the same went for McGee and DiNozzo; he continued to work the wood around the frame. He heard the door open and someone step in. No one called out. He knew every one of his teams' footsteps, and these were none of those. They hesitated for a moment, before seeming to decide to charge on. When they got to his basement door, he looked up, and his expression changed rapidly as he saw who stepped into the light, not to mention his ever darkening mood.

"I thought I told you that I never want to see your face again,"

"And I stayed away," Fornell said. "But there's been a new development."

Gibbs stopped the coming retort. Was this the moment that he had been dreading all these long months, the moment when there was no longer anything anchoring him to this world? His hands gripped his tools harshly-- if they were made from a weaker material they'd have been crushed--as he waited for Fornell to continue.

"His body was found early this morning, and is being flown to D.C., he'll be here midmorning tomorrow."

Gibbs face showed no reaction to this news as he turned back to the table and continued with his paused work. The nail that had been hammered into the piece of heart he had left at Shelby's return to keep it in place, rusted and disintegrated. Not even his father could fix this. No one could. Shelby was that last piece in his life-- _of_ his life.

"Did you hear me, Gibbs?"

"Yeah," Gibbs monotoned.

"He's **alive,** Gibbs!" Fornell shouted at him, "what the hell is wrong with you?! Your son is **alive,** Gibbs!"

Gibbs stopped. "What?"

" ** _Shelby Jackson Gibbs is alive!!"_**

Gibbs gasped as the words finally seemed to penetrate. And in the quickest, sharpest succession, his heart was super glued back together. He had despaired, but he knew that there had been no reason to, his son wasn't weak. Shelby was strong, he said that he wouldn't die over there, and he'd been right. He was alive!

And that was when Gibbs realized that he was crying.

**chapter III break--**

Gibbs and Kate were at Bethesda hospital long before Shelby arrived, because each of them wanted to be there when the object of their despairing arrived, so that they could feel the fullness of their love for him again.

When Shelby did arrive in the ambulance from the airport, the pair only got a fleeting glimpse as he was rushed past on a gurney, and covered in a blanket. The only extent of his injuries that they could discern was the neck brace around his neck and not much else. He had an oxygen mask covering most of his face, and his clear tan skin covered in grime and something darker that might have been blood.

Though Gibbs demanded of the nurse at the front desk that they be allowed to see Shelby, it was actually nearly two hours before they were lead to a private room in the ICU.

Dr. Fields, the doctor who had tended to Shelby was there to reprise them of the extent of his trauma before they left the three of them alone. "... I am very surprised that none of the injuries he obtained didn't become infected; and by some of the older scarring--if I didn't know any better, I would have thought that he was tended to by a doctor."

Kate went over to his bedside and grasped one of his limp hands, and bent to kiss his forehead, as Gibbs looked down at his long lost son--this was the second time that Shelby had been returned to his life from a hospital bed.

They'd cleaned him up pretty good; his dark hair had grown shaggy, and he had the beginnings of a beard. His face was almost unchanged since Gibbs had last seen him; there was still the scar from the bomb on his left eye that had happened a year or so ago; his nose looked like it had been broken a couple times before being reset, if you stared at it long enough you could see a slight crookedness to it; and except for some fading bruises and scabbing cuts--he looked the same.

His body was a different story.

His wrists were bandaged; and Gibbs knew that underneath were the marks of Shelby being bound for the past 8 months. He could see the small scars along the inside of his arm; straight and clean. Gibbs knew that underneath the gown it was much worse; more scars, bigger, deeper--but again, straight and clean. Fields said that they did X-rays, and found evidence of multiple breaks and fractures that had all been reset so that they healed properly.

Gibbs was confused by this--but also relieved. He couldn't understand why they would have doctored Shelby, and then left him out do die in a sun dried wasteland. Why would they have left Shelby alive after keeping him for three-quarters of the year.

He quickly shook his head. It didn't matter; he had his son back and that was all that mattered to him. He left the foot of the bed, and sat in the chair on the opposite side as Kate, and held his son's hand. Both of them would sit here as long as it took

**chapter III end--**

 


	5. IV

He felt nothing, and this was just what he had wanted. There was no pain here, no fear, no hunger, or thirst. There was just nothing, and he didn't fight it because he didn't want to. He was done fighting. Here, there was nothing to fight. It was almost like a dream except for the fact that even in his dreams he was fighting, so this had to be reality. It was the end and he could finally rest for as long as he wished because there was nothing else. He didn't need to think or move... or remember.

He didn't have to do anything any longer.

But after a indeterminable amount of time passed, he started to feel something. At first he didn't know what it was, because it had been such a long time since Shelby had really felt anything, but there it was. The reason why this nothing no longer felt like nothing was because there was no one there to share the nothing with. In the deep, dark, depths of his mind, he knew that there should be _someone_ there with him —someone that he needed, wanted, and... loved?

It took him a while as he swam through the nothing in his mind to retrieve a memory of who that person might be. He could see the shadow of that person and he pulled at it, trying to drag it from the nothing. It became a silhouette. The longer he pulled at it, the more subtly clearer it became. Until... he almost had it, they were at the tip of his tongue—a blinding bright light shot through the nothing and shocked his body down to the core. 

He lost it, maybe even forever as he was dragged from the nothing.

His eye lids peeled apart in the bright light. He didn't see nothing, but instead blurry faces that hadn't been there before—smiling and grinning—and he felt déjà vu as he blinked them into clarity. 

"Shelby," Kate breathed out, caressing his face as she gazed into his blinking green eyes, with tears clouding her own.

"Hey, son." Gibbs said, his voice rough with emotion; they'd been here through the whole night (Shelby'd woken up quicker than when he was hit with the bomb). He gently squeezed the man's shoulder. "How're you feeling?"

"I—" Shelby started in confusion, as Kate bent and kissed his cheek. His eyes widened as he was surrounded by her scent, and the feel of her lips, her dark eyes, and her happy expression. "Kate!"

Her face bloomed into his mind; and so did every second of every moment that he'd spent with her. She was his soulmate. And he was never going to part from her again. Before she could even consider about pulling away, he tugged her down into his arms and hugged her like he was never going to let her go. She wrapped her arms round him best she could and buried her face in his neck, as he cried into her hair.

Gibbs watched them for a quiet moment, before he quietly left the room. But he didn't go far. He would give them a moment, but he wasn't going to let Shelby out of his sight like he had before, he'd learned this lesson too many times before.

Finally the tears had run their course and left Shelby exhausted. Kate tried to pull away and give him some room, but he wouldn't let her go. He had once before and he wasn't going to again. After some stiff shuffling around on the bed, he made room for her and she curled up against his side.

"God, Kate..." he swallowed the lump in his throat. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Kate ran her hand soothingly up and down his bare arm. "Shhh, don't think about that now, Shelby. I'm here, and you're here, and that's all that matters." She whispered.

Shelby nodded as he held her close, his gaze blurring as he fought back the tears. "Please, don't leave me." He said tiredly, his eyelids drooping.

"I won't, Shel. Never," Kate promised, glancing at his face as he nodded off.

"I get s' scared wh'n you leave me 'lone..." he murmured.

She gazed at him with worry.

"How's he doing?" Gibbs asked quietly from the doorway.

Kate glanced before at him before turning back to Shelby. "I don't know. He's going to be alright, isn't he, Gibbs?"

Gibbs came into the room and sat in one of the chairs, but he didn't answer her as he gazed at his son, and that spoke volumes.

**chapter IV break** —

When Shelby woke up he knew that he was alone. He promised he wouldn't leave him, he sore it. Why would he lie?

"Shelby?"

He gasped and jerked his head to the side where Kate sat in the chair at his bedside, a warm smile on her lips.

"Hi," he gave her a small smile in return as he remembered where he was, and felt guilt and confusion at the fact that he wasn't thinking of her when he woke up, but someone else instead.

"Gibbs is just talking with your doctor, he'll be back in a minute." She said, taking his hand.

Shelby squeezed it. "Have you been here the whole time?"

Kate nodded. "I promised to stay and you asked."

"I did?" He was surprised.

"Yeah," she furrowed her brows, "you don't remember?"

"Not really," he lied; he was pretty sure he asked someone else that question.

She gazed at him with worry, but it was hard to pay attention to that nagging feeling inside of her when he smiled at her like that.

"Glad to see you awake," Gibbs said as he walked in.

"Hey, dad!"

Gibbs smiled at his son as he touched his head affectionately. "I just talked to the doc, a couple more days and you can come home. You think you're up for that?"

Shelby nodded his head rapidly as his dad sat in the chair. "You sure you can't get me released earlier?"

"Shelby, you just woke up. You've be through a lot, just give it some time." Gibbs told him.

"Fine," Shelby sighed. "But that's only because this bed is the most comfortable thing I've slept on in a long time. Could you at least get the doctor to take the catheter out? I really want to pee on my own,"

"Sure," he nodded.

"Thanks." Shelby laid back. "Hey, what's the date anyway?" He looked between the two of them as there was a hesitated pause. "Just tell me," he said, "I can handle it."

"Shelby," his father started. "You were gone eight months."

Shelby was silent for a while as he processed that. Eight months? He was sure that it felt longer than that. But at least they were getting somewhere. He wished things where like they were the last time he was in the hospital. Where his father was straight and blunt with him, not even considering beating around the bush. But here, now, it felt like there were at least five elephants in this single room. Of course he didn't want to talk about what happened. Not only because he didn't want to relive the memories, but because he actually felt pretty okay. Except there was that thing about him thinking about the Dog like he actually meant something, but he wasn't broken.

"Okay," he said finally; he didn't miss the quick look they shared. He couldn't wait until he got out of this place.

chapter IV break--

A few more days was actually five, which didn't consist of much. Kate or Gibbs were always at his side, together or alone, it was all the same. He spoke to Jackson a few times on the phone, and assured him that everything was alright. One more check-up before he was released.

Dressed in a loose sweater and track pants that Gibbs had brought from home, he sat on the edge of his bed alone as he waited for the doctor. His dad was at the head Nurse's desk filling out his release forms and Kate, as much as she wanted to be here when he was released, had to go back to NCIS HQ for a case. He would have liked to have her there, but it wasn't some huge occasion; he'd been hospitalized and released before. But still, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty at the fact that it was a relief to just sit here in the quiet alone for a moment—without those elephants tramping on his toes.

Just then there was a light knock on the door, and when Shelby looked up, it was just Dr. Fields. He didn't know why he felt disappointment at the fact that it wasn't someone else; maybe because he was expecting someone else because for a moment in the silence he _was_ **somewhere** else.

He blinked as Fields gave him a friendly smile and stepped into the room. "Just one last check-up before you're free to go, Shelby. This is Dr. Ari Haswari, a doctor from over-seas who'll be visiting the hospital for a while, he'll be overseeing your case as well when you come in for further assessments."

Shelby glanced over Fields' shoulder, finally noticing the other man that stayed standing in the doorway. He wore a white doctor's coat with a stethoscope around his neck; a light blue button-up shirt; dark blue tie; black trousers and dress shoes. But Shelby really didn't care what he was wearing. He had neatly trimmed dark hair; with brown, green-flecked eyes; straight white teeth; lean with broad shoulders and subtle muscles. When the man spoke, Shelby knew that he was going to have an Israeli accent.

"Hello, Shelby." Ari said, "You're looking well." He stepped into the room, next to Fields in front of Shelby. He held up his hand to shake.

Shelby made no familial reactions whatsoever as he reached out and shook the man's hand as if they were meeting for the very first time. He knew these hands, or more, his body knew these hands on a intimate basis of eight months and counting. Shelby knew that he should be screaming bloody murder right now instead of shaking hands, but was enticed by the gentle look in his brown eyes, and smile on his lips. Instead he said, "Nice to meet you," and let go of his hand. It now sitting clenched on his knee.

Shelby looked anywhere but at Ari as Fields started the exam, but could feel the other man's gaze on him anyway. When Fields lifted up his shirt to listen to his heart and lungs again, Ari's gaze felt more intense as he appraised his handy work. Shelby felt them light afire anew as if Ari was marking him for the first time. He pursed his lips in reaction and felt his heart hiccup, just as Fields took his scope away. He quickly jerked his sweater back into place and worked on keeping his breathing regular.

"You're a very healthy man, Shelby, considering all things you've been through." Fields told him. Shelby couldn't help but think bitterly; _yeah, my body but what the hell's wrong with my mind and soul?_ "You're free to go. Check with the nurse at the desk to get an appointment first however."

Shelby nodded, his gaze downcast.

"Good luck," Field said on his exit, but Shelby wasn't alone.

He could feel Ari standing there, like a burning ember against his body. _Why was he still here?_ Unable to take it any longer, he looked up—but the room was empty, he was alone. He put his face in his hands as he took deep breaths, trying to make sense of what had just happened. He wanted to be dreaming, hoped this was just a nightmare, it wasn't uncommon, but this was just too real.

The Dog was here, he'd never left.

**chapter IV end** —

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guessed that the Dog was Ari, great job! Please review...


	6. V

Shelby was back home, the place where he was born. His home again. But it didn't feel like it. The following weeks he'd been back, along with his therapy sessions—twice a week as scheduled—he had to go to interviews with both the F.B.I., N.S.A. and C.I.A. They were intense, further down the Agency. They never said it outright, but beyond the facts that he lied about—mainly the Dog... _Yes,_ he was losing his mind—they were no closer to finding the terrorist group that had taken him. But what Shelby did know, without a doubt any longer, the longer he had thought about it was—He hadn't escape his prison room in the desert. He had been strategically placed so that his body would be discovered before he perished from heatstroke. For whatever reason, he was unclear, but it just drove him that much closer to becoming insane.

The fact that he knew who the Dog—Ari Haswari—was, meant that he should be telling the F.B.I., N.S.A. and C.I.A. but something was stopping him. Ari was here, in Washington D.C., for whatever reason, part of a Terrorist Attack, and Shelby was somehow a part of it.

He didn't need this, he really didn't, but he was in the middle anyway. No matter how wired he was, he couldn't just stand by and let whatever it was happen, even if he was playing his part by keeping the Dog's identity a secret.

His ramshackle plan burned down to this, he was going to make most of his doctor appointments.

 **chapter V break** —

Shelby stood in front of the stove, clad in a loose tee and sweat pants, his bare feet planted on the cool tile. One hand lightly rested on the skillet's handle, while his other held the flipper loosely in his palm. The two eggs sizzled hotly in the pan as they cooked. The only light in the house on was the kitchen's. They only one awake was him, but he wasn't alone. Gibbs was upstairs in bed, asleep. It was only about 4:30 am after all.

Shelby's sleeping pattern was erratic at best. It wasn't awake during the day, and asleep at night. Though he had been out of captivity for nearing three weeks now, his body was still on the torture-clock time. Back then, a day and night were never the same. The Dog would come and keep him company at random times during those months, so whenever there was a lull in the torture, it gave his brain and body time to shut down into sleep for a indeterminate time. Though he got more sleep now, and the only torture was the dreams and nagging in the back of his mind about Terrorist Activity, instinct kept him on that clock.

He gazed out the window that was above the sink at his side, the kitchen light caused a reflection and he couldn't make anything out in the back yard. It might as well have been boarded up like the previous window that had the outside world so close, yet so far away.

He could taste the burnt in the back of his throat, he turned back to the frying pan, gazing down at the ragged ovals of white and dark yellow, that had already browned solid and were turning black on the outside in. He felt like they were trying to tell him something but he wasn't sure what. He didn't even know why he was cooking in the first place, he didn't really have an appetite. Pretty soon they started to smoke, dark plumes coming from them, and a loud shrieking started behind him.

He started at the sudden loud noise, his hands clenching into fists as he instinctively spun around towards the noise, taking the hot pan with him. It's sudden weight caused him to lose his grip and it dropped from his grasp. Heavy, hot metal smashed onto his left foot before clattering to the floor, throwing black eggs along with it. Shelby cried out in pain and jerked his foot from the floor, losing his balance and crashing to the floor, the fire alarm shrieking all the while.

He barely heard the shout from upstairs as Gibbs was awakened by the alarm, and he came racing from his room and down the stairs. "Shelby!" He skidded into the kitchen, clad much the same as his son but for his sweater, and took in the scene before him within seconds like he'd been trained since he was eighteen. He jumped over the frying pan and eggs and switched off the red burner, and flung open the window at the same time, trying to disperse some of the smoke. He saw Shelby on the floor, holding his foot in injury. He quickly jumped on a chair and turned off the smoke detector before it caused them all to go deaf, and finely knelt next to his son.

"Shelby?" He said again, his hand on the younger man's shoulder. He could feel the muscle tense under the shirt, and reluctantly took his hand away, he didn't want to be touched right now. "Shelby," he tried again, softer, less demanding, even though he was anxious. "Are you all right?"

Shelby saw his father's concern and released his foot, his knees bent, he carefully set it on the floor. Though he could feel the top of his foot burn and throb with a heartbeat, it was the surprise that caused his reaction; it had been nearly a month since something violent had happened to him and it had shocked him was all—the pain was nothing, he'd had worse.

"I'm okay," he whispered.

The answer didn't quench Gibbs's worries, maybe it even made them worse. Ever since Shelby was found and he came home, he wasn't sure how to act around him. Just when they were finally becoming a family again, something tore them apart, and now there was even more limitations on their interaction with each other, more egg shells on the ground between them. After actually seeing the truth in the statement in Shelby's eyes—worrisome on its own accord—he turned his grey hues to his son's foot.

Already he could see the red irritation of the burn on a thick strip on the top of his foot, already swelling up, and he could already see a bruise cropping up around its edges—he’d been lucky that his toes weren’t broken.

"Let's get you up," he murmured, grasping Shelby's arm and pulling him up.

Shelby hopped to the kitchen table and sat in a chair that Gibbs pulled out before he walked briskly to the bathroom and returned a moment later with a small first aid kit from under the bathroom sink. He pulled a chair in front of his son and opened the case on the table, he sorted through it until he found an small tub of burn cream. Shelby let his dad take hold of his ankle and settle his injured foot on his broad knee. Gibbs unscrewed the cap and squeezed the cream onto his finger tips, before dabbing it tenderly on the burn blister. The only reaction Shelby showed was a twitch of the cheek as he watched his father's ministration.

Putting the tube away, Gibbs loosely wrapped Shelby's foot in bandage so that it wouldn’t get rubbed, aggravating the injury further and rubbing off the burn cream. Shelby took his foot back and gingerly set it on the floor between them, as Gibbs packed the med kit and snapped the lit shut.

"What are you doing up anyways, Shelby?" Gibbs asked.

Shelby glanced at the discarded pan on the floor before returning his gaze back to his father's knees. "Cooking,"

Gibbs shook his head as he stood up, and stooped to pick up the pan, putting it in the sink and leaving Shelby to stare at an empty chair. "It's four in the morning," he damped a rag in the sink and cleaned up the crisped eggs and grease off the floor.

"So?"

Gibbs turned and looked at his son, his shoulders slumped as he gazed blankly at the empty chair. He narrowed his gaze in concern, Shelby looked nothing like the man he had before he left on this latest tour. Usually clean shaven, his chin was dark with beard stubble. His brown hair grown out of the military cut he had left with, it now at the nape of his neck. Dark bruises surrounded his big green eyes. He was thinner, had less muscle mass, you could tell that his leanness was not caused by exercise but lack of food. His skin was at contrast with itself, pale, but ruddy from his long exposure to sun when he'd been dumped in the desert by his captives. Gibbs didn't even want to think about the surface scars that his torturers left on his son's body (and not only because he had hardly glimpsed them), let alone the ones that were left on his psyche.

"You could have woke me, I would have made you something." Gibbs said.

Shelby finally looked him, derided. "I don't need you to wait on me day and night, I'm not a kid—I can cook for myself!"

"I can see that," he said drily, he gave Shelby a startled look as he realized what he said.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Shelby demanded, not for the reasons that Gibbs was thinking, as he jumped to his feet and faced his father. "Stop walking on eggs shells around me, I'm sick of it. You think that it's going to change anything if you do? 'Cause it doesn't, it makes it worse! God, you haven't changed, have you? You think that if you ignore the problem that it goes away, but it doesn't, it's still there. Just because we don't talk about that fact that I was kidnapped and tortured, doesn't mean it didn't happen. I was tortured! Stop treating me like a fucking bomb," his cheeks flushed red as his outburst stopped abruptly.

"Shelby—" Gibbs started in astonishment, having no idea his son felt this way.

"Just go back to bed, dad!" Shelby shouted back as he stormed from the kitchen.

Gibbs wanted to run after him, he even reached out, but as he heard the basement door slam, he decided against it. Shelby needed to cool off, hopefully being alone would help him do that. He needed to rethink some things himself.

**chapter V end** —


	7. VI

Shelby felt the sun beat down on him from above as he stepped from the building where he'd just finished his therapy session. Feeling guilty about the way that he had yelled at his father the other night, but unable to apologize to the man just yet, it was one of the first things that came up. To say that he didn't glean anything new from talking to his doctor about it, would be the truth.

He already knew it was because he refused to believe that he wasn't okay, that he was tortured, so what, he was over it. But he wasn't. The fact that the Dog was here and he didn't know why, wouldn't let him. He wouldn't be okay until the man was gone from his life for good—the country or life itself—which ever came to pass first. He was determined to find out, even if it killed him.

He would make things okay with his father, maybe by cooking something that wouldn't bring the fire department to their doorstep, but right now, he was headed to the hospital. He didn't have an appointment, but the burn on his foot would give him an excuse. He was going to get some answers today, it was his current goal. Afterward, he wanted to fall into Kate's arms—it was another thing that he was feeling guilty about. He loved Kate, and she loved him, but sometimes it was just too tiring, the worry and care that came off her in waves—headed straight for him.

When he arrived at the hospital, he went to the nurses desk and told them that he was here to see Dr. Haswari. The nursed asked him if he had a appointment. The answer was no, but then he told her about the burn, and she relented enough to pick up the phone and see if the doctor was with any patients. It seemed that because Ari was a doctor from overseas, he didn't have an official patients, like Shelby seemed to be, and was stuck in the ER. At the moment he was free, and the nurse gave him directions on where he could find the doctor. He thanked her and followed those directions, determined to see this thing through.

But when he arrived, he stopped short, his heart pounding in his chest. Was he insane?! What was he thinking? Being tortured must have really messed something up inside of him if he was stupid enough to want to willingly confront his tormentor of 8 months. He took a step back. He was going flee, run to his father, run to somebody—anybody—and tell them who Dr. Haswari really was.

He took another step back but his progress halted as he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder, preventing him from going any further. He looked to his left, and the very man he was trying to run from, was now leading him into the room he was backing away from, shutting the door behind them.

"Ah, Mr. Gibbs—may I call you Shelby?" Ari said, taking his arm back. Released from his hold, Shelby scrambled away from the Terrorist-Doctor. Ari cocked an eyebrow at him when he didn't answer. "Shelby it is."

Shelby looked at the man, probably the same age as him, with fear in his eyes. "Doctor," he said faintly.

Ari smiled at him genially. "Please, call me Ari. Now, the nurse said that you injured your foot?"

Shelby nodded mutely.

"Have a seat and we'll check it out,"

Shelby meekly did as he was told. Ari took a pair of gloves and snapped them on—causing something that seemed so mundane before, to be so menacing now—as he turned to his current patient/former captive.

"Which foot?"

Voice shaking, Shelby told him. "Left," He took off the shoe and sock.

Ari rolled a stool in front of him and sat down, taking a hold of Shelby's ankle before cradling the foot in his gloved hands as he inspected the damage done to the limb, after taking the bandage Gibbs wrapped it in, off. The foot was swollen now, the bruise such a dark purple it looked black, the burn more tender.

"Wiggle your toes," Ari ordered, Shelby complied. "Mm, they're not broken, but your foot is pretty swollen. You need to alternate by putting ice on it off and on. Try not to walk on it either—if you have to, then don't wear shoes, wear sandals so that there's no pressure on it, and it doesn't get rubbed." He released the other man's foot and pulled the latex gloves off, when he looked up, he found Shelby looking at him with widened green eyes. "Is there something the matter, Shelby?"

Shelby's Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed nervously. "Why-why are you here?" His voice cracked.

Ari furrowed his brows as he stood. "Whatever do you mean?" He replied coyly.

"Don't mock me!" Shelby told him. "What do you want? Torturing me for eight months isn't enough for you, now you have to come to my home and do it some more? Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

"Shelby," Ari spoke sharply, pushing Shelby back into the chair. "You don't get to ask questions, that's my job. You remember that, don't you?" Shelby swallowed as he nodded. "Good. Now," he rested his hands on either of the chair's armrests, leaning close and effectively trapping the young Marine. "I assume you haven't told anyone about me, otherwise I'm sure I'd already be in imprisioned at this moment." Shelby shook his head, mute. "That's very good, _keep it that way."_

Ari stood back up, but didn't step away and continued to stare down at Shelby who was pinioned to the chair just by the man's gaze.

"Are you going to kill me?" Shelby managed, finally, faintly.

Ari looked amused by the suggestion. "Would you like me to?"

Shelby paled further, _why had he put the thought in the Dog's mind?!_ "No," he replied more faintly.

"I didn't think so. And why would I want to put down something that I've spent so much energy on?"

"What do you mean?" he blurted.

"Don't put a thought to it." The Israeli said knowingly. "You don't want to see me out of the hospital, do you?" The threat was obvious.

Shelby heard it loud and clear—and the three people he loved most in the world flashed in his head. Kate. Gibbs. And Jackson. "What are you going to do to me?" His voice was barely higher than a whisper.

Ari was silent for a long moment, and Shelby's heart beat faster with every second. Finally, he spoke; the corner of his mouth tweaking upward. "I'm going to let you go,"

"You are?" Shelby couldn't help but ask.

"Of course, you will be silent, Shelby. I'm doing very important work here, and I hate for you to spoil them before they come to fruition—for the good of everyone." He left Shelby in the chair, but turned back halfway through the door, "I really like you, Shelby. I enjoy your company greatly, as I'm sure others do as well... I'd hate it if they had to stop seeing you." And then he was gone.

Shelby stayed where he was for a long minute—one that may have stretched into five. Quite frankly, he was glad he was already seated or his knees would have gave under him a long time ago. Now he had more incentive than ever to keep quiet about Ari. And he would, even if his voice could have put a stop to a terrorist attack.

 **chapter VI break** —

Gibbs stepped into the empty elevator, coffee in hand, his thoughts still on last nights events as he turned around, Kate rushing through the closing doors to stand next to him.

"Gibbs!" She sounded relieved to see him.

"Kate," Gibbs nodded.

"Gibbs," Kate paused as she gazed at him, her brown eyes filled with worry. "How's Shelby doing?"

Gibbs looked at her. "What? Haven't you seen him?" He asked in surprise.

Kate shook her head, glancing away. "Not for a few days now. So?" She repeated, eager for news.

"He's been going out a lot lately, I thought he was going to see you." He told her.

Kate looked at him, startled and hurt. "Well, where's he been going?"

Gibbs shrugged. "Like I said, I thought he was with you."

"Well, clearly he hasn't!" She shouted her confusion. She hadn't seen him for days, where was it that he'd rather be than with her, the woman he loved? "Do you think he's with someone else?" She had no idea where that insecurity came from, it had no volume to it, they both knew that Shelby wasn't that kind of man.

"Kate, I am not going there with you."

"Sorry," she whispered, turning back to the doors as they rode up the floors. "Gibbs...He's back—we finally have him back—but he might as well not be."

"It'll take time," he said.

"You're right," Kate nodded as the doors opened onto the bullpen. "I hope you're right,"

Gibbs stepped out and Kate followed, silently promising that she was going to talk to Shelby—tonight. And if he wasn’t home, she was gonna track his ass down!

 **Chapter VI end** —

 


	8. 7

Shelby went home, but only briefly, carrying out the 'doctor's orders', but he couldn't stay there. He couldn't be confined in that house where he knew his father would come home to. He needed to be alone, he needed to think. He had been so stupid. The minute that he got back, he should have told anyone who would listen, about the Dog. But Ari had been so confident. To let him live for whatever reason, then knowing that he wouldn't tell. He supposed after eight months, the Israeli would know him better than Gibbs, Jackson, and Kate. That thought disturbed the Honourably Discharged Marine more than Ari touching him further.

He shuddered at the thought and kept moving. He found himself at the north end of town, the streets lined with quaint little shops—tea shops, craft shops, bakeries, and a pet store. 

He stopped and looked in the big glass window where puppies of different kinds were displayed in Plexiglas pens. He watched them, all cute and innocent, tumbling around with each other, ignorant to all the darkness that was out in the world. Shelby bent so that he was level with the pups, and sighed as he leaned his forehead against the glass—needing to be in the presence of that innocence for just a minute. 

None of the dogs paid any mind towards him, probably already used to children peering in at them and banging on the glass. But after a moment, one thick, black-furred puppy broke from its pals and came to the glass. Shelby watched curiously as it jumped to the glass, propping its front paws there, before pressing its face to the glass. A streak of white at its chest, and up its muzzle, brown accents above its eyes. Shelby was so startled by the big, brown soulful eyes peering at him through the layers of glass that seem to penetrated into his own soul. Its tail didn't wag overly excited, but at a reassuring pace. After a minute, it broke away and went back to the others.

Shelby turned away from the window, and found that his face was wet with tears. He laughed in shock and surprise as he wiped his cheeks, glad that the streets weren’t that busy at this time of day, and what people there were, ignored the scene of a grown man crying. He walked quickly away from the shop before he drew attention to himself, trying to put the weird event behind him. But it had been so intense. He shivered and it wasn't from the cold.

He cut through the park and stopped when he realized where he had unconsciously taken himself. It wasn't home. He found himself at the small café, the one that he and Kate had discovered, The Saccharine Percolator. He spotted the free table outside where they used to secret when their relationship was still hidden. He claimed it for himself, and when a waitress came, he ordered Ice Cappuccino with whip cream and a Caramel drizzle on top, and a Danish pastry. While he waited, he took out his cell and texted Kate.

He found that he had been ignoring her, and that wasn’t fair—the woman deserved far better than him.

chapter VII break...

Kate couldn't stop thinking about Shelby. She tried to. She tried to focus on the case. Tried to ignore DiNozzo (who was as annoying as ever—she succeeded 70% of the time). She was worried about the younger Gibbs. She loved him and cared for him, but she knew that he hated that she and Gibbs had been fussing over him, worried for him. Though Gibbs knew more than she what his son had been through, she knew that their relationship was just as strained as hers. But she wasn't so sure that what they had at the moment could be classified as a 'relationship'. 

Shelby had been back nearly two months now, all his physical wounds had been healed by the time he was released from the hospital, but she'd hardly seen him. She didn't want to suffocate him, but the fact that he been going somewhere else secretly after his appointments, didn't sit well with her. She knew that he wasn't cheating on her with another woman, even though her mind irrationally went there. He wasn't drinking, he never touched the stuff, and even if he was, Gibbs would know and put a stop to that. So what was he doing that he lied to Gibbs about it, and why was it more important than them?

It seems that her prayer was answered when she got a text late into the afternoon and it was from the very man she was thinking/worried about. Now she was anxious for the day to be done so she could get some answers about the man that she loved.

When the sky grew dark, and Gibbs sent everyone home, she left before he or the stall in their case could change their minds. She drove straight from NCIS HQ to The Saccharine Percolator, in case Shelby decided to change his mind too—yes, her worry was making her irrational. When she spotted Shelby at their table, she paused and took a deep breath, she needed to slow her mind. 

Her phone buzzed and she started, she checked the text.

hi <3

She looked up and Shelby was standing in front of her, his green eyes bright as he looked at her.

"Hi," she said faintly back and jumped into his arms like it was the first time she'd seen him since he came back. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and breathed; she never wanted to let him go. She had at the hospital and she'd hardly seen him since.

"Kate," Shelby whispered in her hair as he held her tight. He thought that she'd be angry with him, and maybe she still would, but right now, they just held each other like two desperate people—maybe they both were, if only for different reasons. 

Finally, eventually, reluctantly, they released each other, and claimed the table again. She wanted to be close to him, so instead of sitting across from him at the small table, she sat next to him. They both ordered a coffee, and took the time the waitress took to bring their orders, to collect themselves.  
When the waitress returned with their drinks, and retreated once more, Shelby spoke quietly after gazing at her for a moment more, as if trying to take her in as much as he could before it was too late—Kate didn't like the thought of that.

"Kate," Shelby spoke her name almost as if it were a prayer.

"Wait," Kate shook her head, stopping him before he could break her world. And he did as she clutched his hand, he would always wait for her. "I... I know that things have been tough; after everything that's happened, I understand that you need time to yourself to sort things through—but you can't push me away, Shel, I won't let you." Her shoulders straightened in determination, and though her voice was quiet, it was firm and unrelenting. "I'll give you space if you want it. I'll respect you wishes, but I will always be here if you need me, if you need to talk, even if you don't want to. I love you, Shelby Jackson, and that will never change."

"Kate, I love you too—I love you more than anything in this world—Don't ever doubt that." Shelby expressed to her immediately; she gave a relieved smile at that. He cupped her cheek. "I haven't been myself lately, you're right. I've been trying to sort through all this crap. I just want to be the best man that I can for you, and right now, I'm not." He admitted.

"Oh, Shelby!" She cried. "I'll love you not matter what shape you're in, to me you will always be perfect."

"I'm supposed to say that to you!" He protested, but she didn't seem to mind. "I guess I've been a pretty bad boyfriend, haven't I?"  
She chuckled and teased him lightly, as tears of happiness brimmed her brown gaze. "Not the worst I've ever had," 

"You're too good for me," he told her, and before she could correct him like he knew she would, he kissed her—unlike the first time that he had, this held no hesitation, but instead all the love that he felt towards her. 

Their coffees turned cold, she melted into his strong arms.

chapter VII end—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can never resist me some Kate and Shelby lovin'!


	9. VIII

They discovered each other anew. Her, the new marks left upon his body. Him, the changes to her their time apart.

Shelby had the best sleep ever since he'd gotten back, laying in Kate's arms. In her embrace, he forgot about Ari and his mission, his threats at the back of his mind but not completely forgotten. But in this moment, with her, he wouldn't think about that badness—he'd be the puppy in the pet shop... at least until he left Kate's apartment. But being here, with her, it was like a whole other world.

The bedroom was enveloped in darkness, but he could faintly make out the shape of her face in the dim light from the alarm clock. Every time Shelby looked at her, he was again and again, shocked at the thought that someone as beautiful, intelligent, caring and funny as her could possibly love someone like him. He didn't deserve her, but he'd treat her with the respect that she deserved.

He snuggled closer to her still, and she shifted in her sleep to welcome him. Ari had never made an idle threat since Shelby knew him. If dad loved mom as much as he loved Kate, he didn't have a clue to how the older man still functioned. He wasn't going to lose her, he wouldn't let that happen. He would keep his word, he just hoped that the doctor did as well.

**chapter VIII break...**

Shelby finally left Kate's apartment. She had left for work and the place just wasn't quite the same without her. He didn't have any doctor appointments this day, and he was left to his own devices.

Of course, without Kate around to keep his mind occupied, it was freed up to dwell on his situation with Ari. He didn't want to think about it. The only thing that he could do was keep his trap shut, and that was what he was going to do to keep the people that he loved safe. He had no doubt that Ari knew about Kate, Gibbs, and Jackson—there was none whatsoever. He had at least an inkling to the way the man thought, after spending nearly everyday for eight months with him.

So he didn't let himself think about it, and instead found himself back at the pet shop, peering into the window, looking for that soulful pup. Shelby felt a pang of disappointment when he discovered that it was no longer there. Someone must have come in and fell in love with the animal, taken it home. He couldn't find fault in that.

He was about to turn away, when someone inside the store came to the puppy pen with a dark bundle in their hands, and watched with surprise and some disappointment when it was the dog that had peered into his soul was put back with its pen pals. After greeting its friends, it seemed to notice Shelby once again, and came to the window. Shelby couldn't help the soft smile that graced his lips, as, though he couldn't quite hear it, the puppy yipped at him, its tongue hanging from its mouth as it crouched, its behind in the air, tail wagging, as it watched him. Shelby couldn't believe that no one hadn't yet claimed the little pup.

Before the man knew what he was doing, he'd already entered the store and was at the puppy display pen, his fingers buried in thick, curly black fur as he held the plump puppy in his hands. It seemed to really want to lick his face, but since Shelby wasn't foolish enough to let it get that close, it seemed content to settle for his hands.

"You're just a big softy, aren't you?" he whispered.

The puppy stopped licking his hand like it was a lollypop, and looked up at him. Her big brown eyes—now that he'd gotten a closer look, had flecks of gold—seemed to say _, you betcha!_

Shelby chuckled lightly, and before he realized it, after a little paperwork, he left the store with the puppy in his arms. He wasn't sure how his dad was going to react, but the man thought that he'd made a wise choice, if only for now. He knew that once he found an name for the girl, it would be official—but first, he needed to get some important supplies.

Two hours later, he found himself on the living room floor surrounded by plastic bags, filled with all the things that he might need, as the pup ran around them, playing, feinting as she attacked them like there wasn't a bone in her body. Shelby couldn't help but laugh as he watched her and started to sort through the things.

Puppy food, bones and treats, food and water bowls, a yellow collar and harness with a regular leash and a retractable one, a tennis ball, and tug-of-war toy. Of course, later this week when things settled down, he'd get the rest of the things that he needed; a dog bed, cage for when he had to leave her, maybe he'd get a doghouse for the yard, he needed grooming supplies, some more toys and a training book couldn't hurt things either. He'd never had a dog before, so he guessed that this was new for both of them.

Though she was distracted and causing a mess in a contained area, the first thing that he did was plop her in his lap, and commenced trying to fit the collar around her neck. She couldn't care less about what he was trying to do, because it seemed all she wanted to do was lick his hands and chew his fingers. But he eventually got it, and when he let her go, the first thing she did was try and chew the thing—he guessed it was a good thing that she couldn't quite reach it. Once she realized that it was never going to happen and she had to live it, she wandered around, discovering ever nook and crevasse. He was going to have to get her some dog tags too.

He left her to it as he set up her dishes in the kitchen, while he thought on the fact that he was going to have to name her first. He didn't have a mat so he put a old towel underneath so when Reggie slopped it wouldn't get all over the place.

"Reggie?" he asked himself. "Where did that come from?"

He stood up and thought about it for a moment longer, the longer it seemed to fit her. She seemed like a rough-and-tumble kind of gal. He heard her yelping suddenly, sounding a little panicked. He rushed back into the living room, but she was nowhere in sight.

"Reggie?" he called.

She barked again, and he knew it was coming from this room. Growing more worried at the fact that he could hear her but not see her, he started to check all the places that he thought a little dog like her could get into. There seemed to be more than he realized. When he couldn't find her immediately, he started to panic himself. _What if he never found her? What it she was hurt?!_ He had to force himself to calm down and think rationally. Instead of looking around randomly this time, he concentrated on her _arfs_. He found her behind the couch, which he didn't think possible because the space was barely half her size, but once he unwedged her, he realized that a quarter of Reggie's size was just her thick fur.

He held her to his chest, and she seemed to take comfort from it after being stuck in a small, dark place for what must have seemed to an hour when it can't have been more that 2 minutes. And before he knew it, Reggie was licking his neck and chin—this time he guessed he'd let her.

"Oh, Reggie, you silly girl." He said with affection, but it quickly turned into something else as he felt a warmness spread across his chest that had nothing to do with her warm fur. "Ugh, Reggie!" he exclaimed as he realized she just peed on him. He looked at her as he held her at arms length, just panting and wagging her tail, looking happy as can-be. And he found he couldn't stay mad long, he guess it was his own fault for not taking her outside earlier.

And that was how Gibbs found him when he walked in the door. A look came across the older man's face that made the younger man utter and "uh-oh", but Shelby supposed it could have been worse.

"Hey, dad." Shelby greeted his father nervously.

"Shelby," Gibbs's eyes pointedly didn't stare at the puppy squirming in his arms or the urine cooling on his shirt. "How was your day?"

"Good," Shelby hesitated as Gibbs slipped off his shoes and hung up his jacket, before walking around him and the mess, and into the kitchen.

Shelby turned as he went, watching his father carefully. "Dad?"

"She can pee on you, but she better not pee on the furniture," Gibbs called with his head in the fridge. "Your responsibility. If I have to start taking care of her, then she's going to the pound. Got it?" He came back out of his kitchen, and stared at his son.

Shelby nodded rapidly, and Reggie followed the movement with her head. "Got it!" He forced his expression to stay serious before his dad nodded and retired to the basement with a plate of leftovers from last night, and then the smile broke across his face full force. "Yes!" He clutched Reggie to his chest in a bear hug where she happily slobbered on his face. "Ugh!" He held her at arms length as he remembered the pee— now he was going to have to shower and bathe her as well.

 **chapter VIII end** —

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me if you like the idea of Shelby getting a dog, and naming her Reggie. If you wanna know what kind of dog she is, it's a BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG. I was thinking of adding Reggie when I was writing the last chapter, but I wasn't sure what kind until I watched The Amazing Race, and discovered this dog during one of their team challenges.


	10. IX

When Shelby had gone to bed, he'd shut his bedroom door, and put away anything that was either expensive, sentimental, a choking hazard, or likely to be used as a bathroom. He'd given Reggie a bath, but when he took her out before bed, she found the only patch of dirt in the yard—note to himself, _blow drier next time._ He knew that when she started to shed all her thick black and brown fur, Gibbs would be pissed if she did it all over the living room couch, so he wanted to re-enforce the concept of _stay off the furniture!_ while she was young and would retain it. But when he turned off the lights and climbed under the sheets, and he could see the reflection of her little puppy eyes in the darkness staring up at him, he couldn't resist but pick her up and let her snuggle under his chin.

He awoke to her whimpering and yipping, and a scent that assaulted his unprepared senses. He opened his sleepy eyes and burning nose to find Reggie pawing at his door and behind her, on the floor, a steaming pile of little puppy shit.

Not the best thing to wake up to first thing in the morning.

"Ugh, Reggie!" He exclaimed in disgust, bolting up in his bed. She just whined at him. He got out of bed to open the window and glanced at the clock; it was 4:20 AM. He guessed it was his fault, she only peed when he'd taken her out before bed—he was just glad that he hadn't left anything material on the floor. "That's a bad girl, no pooping in the house!" He scolded.

He cleaned up the crap (literally) as quickly and quietly as he could, so as not to wake his father, and flushed it down the toilet. Washing his hands before he slipped his bare feet into his sneakers, and put her in her harness and leash, and took her into darkness of the backyard. He stood on the patio in his pyjamas, letting the extendable leash run taunt as she ran around for a little, peed—and cut it short when little scoundrel had to nerve to start digging a hole. He took her straight back to bed after that. The smell had dissipated, thank God, and it felt like he'd barely closed his eyes before he woke up with a slobbery face and her stinky, hot breath.

He groaned as he pushed her away, glancing at the clock; 6:02 AM. "I hope this isn't routine," he told her; if she understood him, she didn't show it. He'd planned to sleep in too, since he didn't have any appointments today, but it seemed like a pipe dream now.

He went to the bathroom first before he took her out in the yard for 15 MIN, before taking her back in where she instantly went to her food and water bowls; and he went straight for the coffee pot. Gibbs always woke up early each morning at the same time, the only reason why it was already brewed and hot. He laced it with sugar and milk before he sat down at the table, and gulped it down before it could go cold.

By the time that Gibbs came down stairs, dressed in his usual work attire, Reggie had finished eating and discovered a loose thread on Shelby's pants very entertaining. Gibbs smirked as he poured a cup of coffee extra black for himself and piping hot, before he sat across from Shelby at the table.

"Welcome to parenthood." He chuckled.

Shelby glowered back, clearly not amused.

"What did you expect?" Gibbs asked. "She's a puppy, she doesn't know any better."

"She was so cute in the store, though!" He moaned.

"I meant what I said, she's your responsibility."

"I know. It just... I didn't expect to wake up so early and find poop on my floor." He pouted.

Gibbs couldn't help the amused smirk. "What did you name her?"

Shelby sighed and looked down with mild amusement as she tugged at the thread. "Reggie," he told his father.

"Fitting." Shelby looked back at him. "It mean's _Queen._ " He finished off his coffee, and stood from the table. "I'll see you after work."

"Bye, dad!" Shelby called after him, as the front door slammed shut and he heard his dad's truck start and pull from the drive. He had grabbed at Reggie before she could run off after him, and held her in his arms. "Fitting," he agreed as she started to lick his face against his will.

chapter IX break…

Shelby had taken Reggie out for a long walk, and took the opportunity to get the rest of the things that he might need. When they got back to the house, he put a plastic mat under the food dishes before getting her a fresh bowl of water. She lapped at it greedily and sloppily; he made a good choice in his purchase. He gave her a treat, telling her to sit, showing her how; she blatantly ignored him, stole the treat and went on her way into the living room to play with her toys.

Shelby shook his head as he followed her. "We'll work on that," he told her before settling on the couch to watch some TV while she played. He took out his cell and texted Kate.

FROM SHELBY:

**HEY. MISSED U THE OTHER NITE. GOT A SURPRISE.**   
**AFTER I LEFT UR PLACE, I WENT BY THE PET STORE**   
**AND GOT A PUPPY! SHE'S THE CUTEST THING U HAVE**   
**EVER SEEN. :)**

He snapped a cute picture of Reggie and sent that along with it. It was nearly twenty minutes before she replied.

FROM KATE:

**HEY THERE. MISSED U 2. I'M HAPPY THAT U GOT**   
**A FRIEND TO KEEP YOU COMPANY. SHE'S ADORABLE,**   
**I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET HER. I'LL C IF I CAN GET AWAY**   
**IN A LITTLE BIT & C U. XO**

FROM SHELBY:

**OK. HAVE A GREAT DAY. B SAFE. XOX**

It wasn't long after that, that Shelby must've dozed off. He awoke sometime later to Reggie's whining. He groaned, rubbing his face, hoping that she didn't use the floor as her bathroom again. He was immensely relieved when he discovered she'd just lost her tennis ball behind the TV stand and couldn't get it back again.

He slid from the couch and crawled towards her on his hands and knees. He pushed her out of the way and reached in behind the stand. It was an awkward angle and he found the side of his face pressed against the wall and his hand tangled in cords and old cobwebs.

There was a knock at the door and her called _come in!_ without thinking as found the tennis ball. He heard the door open, and close as he pulled his arm out and Reggie barked nervously. Shelby supposed that she would be a little nervous about meeting Kate, but then again, she didn't seem to mind Gibbs. Reggie was the type of dog that he was afraid might get her in trouble; if she ever got off the leash when she was older, he knew she would be happy to meet everyone in her line of sight—while that could be good in some situations; in others it could mean disaster.

"Kate?" Shelby smiled as he stood and turned towards his girlfriend, only to take a step back against the wall in surprise and fear. "Ari?" he gasped, Reggie pressing heavily against his calf.

"Shelby!" Perfect white teeth flashed as the Israeli smiled at him—not at all looking like he walked up to Shelby in his own territory. "It's such a pleasure to see you again." He acted liked they were best friends, and Shelby wasn't pressed against the wall in fear—what if Kate came by and he was here? Would he kill her?

"What—?" Shelby started, but Ari ignored him as he spotted the puppy at his feet.

His eyes seemed to light up as he crouched down and looked at Reggie—this was one such situation that Shelby dreaded. "Hey, there, girl." He cooed. "Aren't you a princess." Reggie whimpered and the warmth left Shelby's leg as she bolted from the room as fast as her little legs could carry her, and up the stairs. Ari waved the action aside as if it didn't happen, and stood back up. "It's instinct," he explained to Shelby, "when they sense a predator."

As much as Shelby might have found Reggie's presence a comfort, he was glad that she ran; he didn't know why Ari was here, and he didn't want her caught in the middle—he just hoped that same went for Kate. "What do you want?" He ground out, sick of these games.

Ari's handsome face turned hard as he looked at the other man pressed against the wall, as he took a step forward. "Your father works for NCIS. I want you to get me information on a case that he's currently investigating." He stated simply.

"What? No way! Why would I ever do that for you?" Shelby protested, taking a step away from the wall.

But Ari was right there. "Because I am telling you to," he didn't even have to physically touch the other man, his mere intimidating presence forced Shelby against the wall again. "If you do not do as I say..." the threat was left unsaid, but then he felt like putting the man's imagination at ease. "Your girlfriend, dear Caitlyn? I believe, is bound to be arrive soon, I suspect—I can still be here if you like. The choice is yours,"

Shelby glared back at him harshly. "If you dare hurt her—" he started.

Ari smiled back at him. "Do as I say, and no harm shall come to her."

"Alright," Shelby swallowed down the bile that rose in the back of his throat at the mere thought of what he was going to agree to, but if he didn't, the Israeli doctor/terrorist would kill Kate. "Alright. I'll find out what my father knows."

"Good." Shelby flinched as Ari reached out and patted him on the shoulder like he was a good chap. "I want the information in 72 hours. You know where to find me. I'll let myself out,"

Shelby watched as he left, closing the door behind him. The first thing that he did was lock the door, but he doubted that would do much to stop the terrorist if he wanted back in. He backed away, a shudder running through him in shame and revulsion. Shame at what he was going to do, and revulsion at the man that was making him do it.

He went up stairs to find Reggie (she was hiding under Gibbs's bed), she was shaking and didn't want to come out, and Shelby didn't blame her one bit. He was in the same condition that she was. He'd always felt the safest when he was a kid and went into his mom and dad's room—now just his dad's—but it still felt the same, and he felt himself, as a grown man, crawling under the bed with his dog, and petting her; trying to comfort the both of them.

The former Marine wondered if that was what it was like to be a suspect in Gibbs's interrogation room. He'd seen war, he'd killed, he'd felt loss and tragedy and isolation; but nothing made him feel more like a helpless boy than Ari Haswari.

 **chapter IX end** —

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Intense. You wondering what's going to happen next? Me too! Please review.


	11. X

Hours later, Shelby still lay with Reggie under his father's bed. He knew that it was safe to come out now, Ari was gone, he had been for hours; he just couldn't seem to put the thought into an action, until something else reinforced the notion. His cell phone rang. The sudden intrusion of noise started both man and dog. Shelby started to pet her soothingly as he fished it from his pocket in the tight space.

"Hello?"

 _"Shelby? It's Kate,"_ his girlfriend's voice filtered through.

"Hey..." He felt guilty at nearly forgetting. "You coming over or what?" He asked, holding his breath, not sure the answer that he was hoping for.

 _"Are you okay?"_ She asked _. "Your voice sounds weird. You haven't suddenly caught a cold since we last talked, have you?"_

"No," he twisted his head in the cramped space so that it was his ear against the wooden floor instead of his forehead. "must be the reception. So?" he questioned.

" _Oh. I feel super bad, but I don't think that I can come over tonight to see you and meet Reggie_."

"What, really? Is everything okay? You sounded so sure earlier,"

 _"I know,"_ she sighed _. "But my sister called, and it's been such a long time since I've seen her —I could hardly say no."_

"That's okay," Shelby said instantly, not able to stop the thought about Kelly. "It's your sister. Just have fun, tell her I said hi. Just, call me before you go to bed if you can, it doesn't matter how late."

_"Thanks. I will, and I love you."_

"I love you, too. Bye,"

" _Bye_ ," she replied softly.

Shelby ended the call and set his cell on the floor. He felt guilty about the fact that he felt relieved that Kate wouldn't be coming over after all. After the visit from Ari... he didn't think he would be able to handle lying to her; it was bad enough with what he was going to do to Gibbs after he got home.

Reggie whined softly next to him where he had an arm wrapped protectively and comfortingly around her. He could see the light glare of her big eyes in the dark. She was starting to get antsy, he could feel it. She probably had to go to the bathroom, and now that he thought about it, so did he.

"Alright, girl, potty break." He agreed.

She scrambled out of there before he was even halfway out, grabbing his cell phone and putting it back in his pocket before he stood up. Of course, he saw to her needs before his own; he knew for a fact that he could hold it in longer than her. She really had to go, too, the instant they stepped out the back, she squatted on the nearest patch of grass. After that, he let her run around for a bit with the leash at full length, before going back inside. He filled her dish with food and fresh water, and while she made a mess of that, he relieved himself.

It was getting late, he knew that the time was counting down when Gibbs came home, and he had to betrayed their relationship. Shelby knew it would be bad if his dad became suspicious, so the man knew he couldn't dive into this head first, he had to come up with a battle plan to worm the information out of the close-mouthed man.

He'd be home in a couple short hours, so that gave Shelby enough time to for supper.

**chapter IX break…**

Shelby's nerves were on edge as he waited for his dad to arrive home. He'd given Reggie a bone, which she was now gnawing on in her new bed, that he had placed in the living room at the moment, so she was occupied, out of the way, and a place that he could still keep an eye on her while he was at the table with his dad in the very near future.

He knew that he needed to get it together, he couldn't half-ass it—there was too much on the line—so he did what he'd learned to do in the Marines, when he was waiting in his sniper perch. Taking several slow, deep breaths; he centered himself; and set aside all the irrelevant things that would just cause distraction. When he opened his eyes, the front door opened and his father walked through. Reggie, so engrossed in her bone, didn't even glance his way; she'd completely forgotten what had happened earlier—Shelby wished he could be so lucky.

He quickly pushed the thought away before it could take root, and greeted his dad. "Hey,"

"Is that what I think it is?" Gibbs asked, as he caught the scent in the air, it was confirmed twice as he saw the dishes on the stove, and Shelby smirked at him.

"If your thinking meatloaf, then yes."

"I was,"

"Well, wash up and we can eat." Shelby told him, standing from the table, Gibbs didn't wait a minute.

They settled at the table, their plates loaded; meatloaf, sauce, potatoes, collared greens... their stomachs grumbled in anticipation. Gibbs was halfway through his plate before he came up for air.

"It's as good as I remembered," Gibbs told him.

Shelby smiled at his father. "I haven't made it in a while, I thought I'd be a little rusty, glad I haven't lost my touch." Though he didn't have much of a appetite, he couldn't help but relish the flavours.

"After a rough day of work, it's always your cooking that makes it worth it."

Shelby couldn't help but feel a surprised warmth spread through him at his dad's unusually complimentary mood—too bad the feeling was overshadowed by the fact of coming betrayal and broken trust. But he forced himself to grab onto the opening about work. "How's that going, by the way? Work, I mean," he forced himself not to look down on his plate; and saw over Gibbs's shoulder that Reggie paused for a moment, and seemed to send him a look—he promptly ignored it.

Gibbs took the moment of chewing his food to look at his son. It was an unsaid rule that they didn't talk about his cases. But the question seemed innocent enough, and he suspected that it was just Shelby wanting to talk, to fill the silence. He didn't have an friends, except Kate (which didn't count because she was his girlfriend), and Jackson (which was the same because he was his grandfather), and the dog hardly counted either.

"A Marine Instructer at a training facility in Nor Folk was found this morning, shot in the head." Gibbs said, as vaguely as he could. He didn't want to say more, because of how Shelby might react—like, the man had been tortured; bruises, broken bones, burns, water boarding, teeth pulled, his nails too but not before needles had been pushed straight through the tips of his fingers. The shot in the head had been a mercy for the man. He wondered how he could think that for this man, but was glad that the same thing hadn't been said for his son. So no, there was no way that he would or could tell all this to Shelby.

"Oh." Shelby said weakly. He was hoping that Gibbs would divulge more, but at the same time, he wish the man would stay tight lipped as usual. "Are you close to finding the killer?" He made himself ask, taking another bite, and forcing it down his throat even though he felt like he wanted to throw-up.

"No leads so far. All dead ends, whoever did this knew what they were doing to leave no trail. This guy had something that they wanted, and I think they got it." Gibb finished off the last bite on his plate, and got up from the table to get a second helping.

"That's to bad," Shelby replied, eyes on his plate. Was this enough? Would this satisfy Ari when the time came? Though he wished it was, he knew that the other man would expect more from him. Reggie trotted into the kitchen, pawing at his legs as Gibbs sat back down at the table.

He glanced at the pup. "Think she wants out," he said.

"Yeah," Shelby agreed. He got up from the table and rinsed his plate before putting her on the leash. The instant he stepped outside, and out of view of the window, he felt exhausted. No wonder his dad was so cranky all the time; he interrogated people for a living. It was hard work, though he guessed it was easier when you could be so forward about it.

He used this time to think about his next plan of action. Ari had given him a time limit. But there was enough time that Shelby would be able to do the same thing that he did tonight tomorrow; his father would be farther along in the case, he just hoped the man was as forthcoming as he was tonight. Though he didn't think he could go about it in the exact same way, unless it was his father who brought up work first again.

By the time that Shelby came back inside with Reggie, Gibbs's plate was already in the sink and he was down in the basement. He showed the pup a treat and tried to get her to sit, but there was the same amount of success as that morning. He gave up and let her have it, before he wrapped up the leftovers and put them in the fridge. He prayed to God even though he knew he was going to Hell, to help tomorrow go as smooth as it did tonight.

 **chapter IX end** —

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting closer and closer. Please review!


	12. XI

After some searching online, Shelby had found a Dog Park in Washington that was nearby. It was fenced in, of course, and dogs were allowed off-leash. He could see how eager Reggie was to play with some other dogs, but she was just so small, and he couldn't trust himself to keep her in his sight at all times while his thoughts were distracted with more pressing matters. So he had her hooked to the retractable leash while he sat on a unoccupied bench, his thoughts troubled.

The clock was ticking down, faster than Shelby thought possible. He squeezed Gibbs for as much information as he could about the case that he was currently working, and just hoped that Ari was satisfied with it—he did not want to fathom what the man would do to make his promises true. Soon, he was going to have to pay another visit to the hospital, but not now.

It was a warm day, the sun beat down hotly, but there was a cool breeze that licked up your hair and made the stay outdoors worth it. But Shelby was feeling the opposite of warm even though he sat in the direct path of the sun, a chill traveled down his spine and he shivered. He looked around him; all he could see were people, adults and children alike, with their dogs playing—nothing that would set off such a reaction. Just to make sure, he quickly found Reggie, still attached to the leash and unharmed, busy wrestling with a Lab pup. He breathed a sigh of relief. A shadow converged on him and the sigh froze in his throat.

"Mind if I have a seat?" Ari didn't wait for an answer before he sat down on the bench next to Shelby.

"What are you doing here?" Shelby blurted in surprise. He was supposed to find Ari, not the other way around.

Ari smiled at him, his brown gaze hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. "I was just going for a stroll, Shelby, it was a complete accident that we ran into each other."

Shelby was barely able to hold back the scoff of disgust; nothing was ever a complete accident where Ari was concerned. He did this on purpose, trying to catch him off guard, to stop the clock prematurely, catch him while his pants were down; and he did. He said instead, "I talked with my father, and got as much information about the case as I could without him getting overly suspicious and claming up."

"Good, let's hear what your dear father has concluded."

Shelby narrowed his green gaze at the man next to him, though Ari was wet with casualness, the sniper saw a slight tightening of his bicep. As a sniper, he had been trained to detect these subtle movements for when he was covering a Marine team, and needed to know whether he needed to take the shot or not. Maybe he wasn't as casual on the inside as he was out. "A Marine Instructed in Norfolk was found shot in the head—" Ari chuckled as he heard this. Shelby's first feeling was dread; did he get the wrong case? "What's so funny?"

"Sorry, I apologize, really." Ari told him. "Is that all your father told you about the man?"

"Of course not—"

"Did he not tell you about what came before the gunshot?"

"What—" Shelby was almost afraid to ask, but Ari would have told him even if he hadn't, that was just the kind of sick man he was.

"Did he not tell you tell you the man was tortured? I am sure you know what I speaking about, if the man had lived, you two could have told each other of your _very_ similar experiences." Ari smirked.

Shelby tensed, his jaw clenched, his grip tightening on the leash's plastic handle. The Dog was trying to get a rise out of him, he knew he was, but even then, he had to fight hard to keep control. Whether he was telling the truth or not (which was a challenge in itself), the results where the same. It was too personal, hit all his nightmares on the head, and it invoked his sympathy. He wanted to say that he was the lucky one, but sometimes, like now, he wasn't so sure. "The killer wanted information the man had, maybe pertaining to his work in Norfolk." Shelby continued to speak through tight lips as if he hadn't been grossly interrupted. "As far as they can tell though, the man held no information as an Instructor that could be worth killing over, so now they're looking into his personal life to see if he'd been in contact with the wrong sort of people—maybe gambling or drugs."

Ari's smirk seemed to get broader, Shelby wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or not; all he knew was that he wanted to kill this man badly, he could even do it here—he'd willingly go down for manslaughter if he had to.

"Is that all?" He inquired.

Shelby silently nodded.

"Good."

"So we're done, you'll leave me alone now?" Shelby couldn't help the desperate hope that slipped into his voice.

"For now," Ari was like a shark that attacked the injured, but not before he circled it, terrorizing it before death. "We'll talk again soon, it was good seeing you again, Shelby." He stood up and smiled down at him, and before he left, he patted Shelby's shoulder like they were good friends.

Shelby couldn't stop the shudder that went through him as he watched Ari walk away until he was swallowed up by unsuspecting families and their animal companions. He felt sick to his stomach, and he wanted to have a shower, he shuddered all over again. Once he was finally able to move, he retracted the leash. When he found Reggie, he picked her up and got out of there. Not having any idea what he had been through, the pup was just happy to see her master; he didn't have the heart to make her stop licking his face.

When he got back home, the first thing that he did was take a shower; he felt dirty both physically and mentally. Tears of shame and fear mixed with the spray of the shower. He wanted to stay there until the spray ran cold, but he forced himself out.

Drying off, he wrapped the towel around his waist and wiped the steam that clouded the mirror above the sink; the man that looked back at him was a tortured soul in too deep. He stared at himself blankly. He was lost, so lost. He was being coerced into helping a terrorist plot, and though he was surrounded by people that loved him and dealt with garbage like Ari for a living, he was out at sea without a life jacket.

If something didn't give soon, he was going to drown and no one was going to notice.

 **chapter IX end** —

 


	13. XII

Kate couldn't believe the case that the team was currently working of the Marine Instructor that was tortured before being killed. His personal life on the surface seemed in tip-top shape. So they went for the obvious turn and looked into his work-life. The torture was professional and brutal, the killer really wanted whatever information that this man had, and by the end result, they got it. But his work-life was a mirror image of his personal-life. Gibbs wasn't happy about this, and barked at them to dig deeper, there had to be something hidden in the shadows that they just weren't seeing. So they went into over-drive, re-digging into the man's life, hoping to find cause for his murder—maybe drugs, or gambling debt. They turned up nothing. A few days later, with no leads turning up, the Director ordered the case to be put on the back burner and they were assigned another.

A Navy Pilot was murdered in Maryland. He was killed with three-shots to the chest in a tight grouping. Very professional. And then the killer cut off the Pilot's hands. It was suspected to be a professional hit, and the hands were taken as proof of kill. But Gibbs's gut told him that was wrong, there was more to it. After looking into the Pilot's personal-life, there was nothing overly suspicious, so they searched deeper into his work in Maryland. It was discovered that he was working with a Proving Ground Corp. where they tested new military equipment before it was legal to use in the field. So they checked to see if anything used there required the Pilot's finger and palm prints, but that came up empty. Just as in their previous case, they were coming to a wall, but Gibbs's gut told him that there was something there, in front of him, he just wasn't seeing it—that pissed him off more than anything else.

He went home in a bad mood.

Supper was leftovers from last night; grilled chicken with scalloped potatoes. Shelby was nowhere in sight, so after he ate, he went up stairs to check on his son. The younger man was doing better than anyone could have expected; he went to all his appointments with not a complaint. But what was helping him the most, Gibbs suspected, was that dog, the self-proclaimed Queen, Reggie.

Shelby's door was open, the light was off and it was quiet. Gibbs stopped in the doorway, and looked in, he saw his son sitting on the edge of the bed. He wasn't doing anything, he was just sitting there, in the silence, in the dark. The light that leaked into the room from the hall cast his pale face in blocks of shadow and light. His green eyes, usually so bright, now looked like what Gibbs had always pictured what his wife's looked like in death—vacant. It caused the older man to shudder.

Maybe Shelby wasn't doing as he good as he had earlier suspected. This was another thing that father and son seemed to have common quite recently; shoving his devastated feelings deep down, burying them with false mending, until one day he exploded, all his true feelings coming out in a barrage of harsh truths—or in Gibbs's case, murder of the killer of his wife and daughter. On the surface, Shelby was dealing with his trauma healthily, but on the inside, from everyone’s view, he was falling apart. Gibbs needed to go in there and talk with his son.

Shannon was always good at doing things like this—talking. It was always her who sussed out what was wrong with the kids, especially Shelby. But that wasn’t the case anymore, he told himself, Shannon wasn’t here any longer. It was just him now. He promised himself that he wouldn't bring work home with him now that Shelby was living with him once more, he kept that contained in the basement when he was alone with his boat and a glass of bourbon.

He stared at Shelby a moment longer, going unnoticed, but he didn't go in and sit down and talk to his son, instead he turned around and shut himself in the basement, his mind trapped on his current and the previous case.

**chapter XII break...**

When Gibbs went to work early the next morning, he didn't see Shelby before he left. He felt guilt about knowing that he should have talked with his son, but not going through with the act and instinct that something was truly messing with the younger man's head. But the thoughts and feeling were soon pushed aside, when McGee discovered that the Pilot only consulted with the Proving Ground Corp., and worked for an Aerospace Contractor located in Norfolk. That was when they soon discovered that there was connection with the Marine Instructor, what that was, they had yet discovered, but Gibbs knew that they were closing in.

When the team went to the Aerospace Contractor to question them, they made two discoveries. One...the Pilot was one of the heads on a new UAV Module prototype for the Military that when finished, he was to test at the Proving Ground Corp. where he consulted, the prototype was supposed to be able to be reconfigured for multiple mission types (like reconnaissance and ground attack), in order to lessen soldier deaths, and the Pilots finger prints were needed to gain access to the flight controls—and a relic Target Drone was missing from storage. Two... the FBI.

Gibbs's mood was a twisted concoction of dread and suspicion, topped with anger. He faced off with his friend and work enemy.

"We're alone, away from prying ears. Now, tell me, Fornell—what the hell were you doing at the Aerospace Contractor?" Gibbs growled, filling up half the space in his proclaimed 'office'; which in truth was the NCIS HQ elevator Emergency Stopped between floors, the ultimate privacy booth.

Fornell sighed. "It's Classified, on a need to know basis."

Gibbs glared. "I need to know whether or not this pertains or interferes with my case."

"If I tell you," Fornell started, looking straight at him, his hands in his trench pockets. "You will not tear outta here, and break out all hell."

Gibbs's eyes narrowed, his gut already not liking what he was hearing. "I don't make promises I can't keep."

Fornell groaned. He supposed he had no other choice, this concerned Gibbs, or to be more accurate, his son Shelby Jackson. The Senior Field Agent found himself wondering how he always ended up in these situation. "As you're aware, Gibbs, we've been trying to track down the terrorists that capture Shelby Jackson for those eight months. When we talked with him about his captors, we asked about a single man specifically. We have no name, just a blurry picture. Your son said he didn't know him, but something didn't sit quite right with me."

"What are you saying, Tobias?" Gibbs demanded refusing to come to the obvious conclusion that his son had lied.

"The fact that Shelby Jackson lived was odd in itself, Jethro. What terrorist in the world would leave a captive alive, not even the most stupidest would. So why did he live?" Fornell said, not sparing his friend.

"My son is not a turncoat!" Gibbs spat, but deep down things were falling into place, his suspicions from when Shelby was first found, resurfacing. He needed to hear this whether he wanted to or not.

"That's not what I said. But he was kept alive for a reason, Jethro, I know you know this. But we had to look into it anyways. We found Shelby Jackson in the company of an Israeli man."

"Did you arrest him?"

"No." Fornell shook his head, surprised at the restraint the other man was showing. "We were closing in, believe me, but this guy is always one step ahead of us. Like he knows where we are, that he's being watched. This guy’s smart, and we've only glimpsed him once in our surveillance. But this isn't looking good, Gibbs. We don't think it has to do with Shelby Jackson himself, but the connections that he has."

"What connection?"

Fornell looked at the other man in surprise. " _You_ , Jethro, he has _you_. You're a distinguished NCIS Agent with high clearance. He could be coercing your son into getting information about any case that you're working and pass it on." Gibbs's expression froze as he said this, and Fornell felt his stomach churn. "What?"

"These past two nights, Shelby's been asking me about the case I was working on. It was odd, we never talk about work."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I was vague. And then just as suddenly as he asked me about it, he stopped. I figured that he just needed to talk, about anything. He got a dog, you know." Gibbs said quietly, "Last night, when I got home, I found him sitting in the dark." He fought of the shudder as he remember his son and wife's eyes; so similar.

"Did you tell him about this case?"

"Of course not," he growled.

"This isn't good, Gibbs. He making his move, his players are falling into place."

"You don't have to tell me that!" he snapped. "My son was tortured for eight months, Tobias! And now he's being used in a terrorist plot, that's the only reason he's alive right now!"

"So then tell me about what you figured out." Fornell said.

He clenched his fists, as much as Gibbs wanted to go out there and kill this guy, he couldn't help but think about last night. Would things be different if he had just talked to Shelby? It was too late for thoughts like that, though. So he filled Fornell in on this case, and the connection that it had to his pervious case with the Marine Instructor, all the while his son haunted the back of his mind. Would he be able to stop this before Shelby was of no more use to this guy? All he knew was that he had to, and he would, nothing would get in the path of saving his only son, _nothing_.

They left the elevator and filled in the team, and got to work on figuring out the terrorists’ plot.

 **chapter XII end** —

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now where really getting somewhere, things are starting to go down! Please review!


	14. XIII

Shelby was finding in harder and harder to appear put-together in front of others after the crimes that he was committing to both family and country. When this ended—and instinctively he knew that it would soon—he wondered if he would be arrested for assisting in an act of terrorism (it didn't matter if he was coerced into giving information), if Kate would still love him, if his father would be branded a traitor by extension and fired from his job at NCIS. He was filled with such shame. He always tried to put on a brave face for Reggie too, but after putting on a show for his dad and Kate, he was too exhausted at the end of the day, so he'd end up sitting in the dark, feeling the full brunt of his actions.

He hadn't seen Ari for a week now, and the fact that he barely saw Gibbs and Kate in that same time, meant that they were really digging into their current case—Ari busy plotting death, and Team Gibbs trying to stop said terrorist-plot, with Shelby stuck somewhere in the middle.

Trying to get his mind off things as best that he was able, he took Reggie out for a run. In the last week he'd only let her out into the yard, and he knew that she was itching to get out and spread her legs. He didn't want to go back to the Dog Park because Ari had found him there once. He wanted to be left alone, he wanted things back to when he'd never met the Dog—he really needed to start calling Ari something else. The Dog reminded him of Reggie on the simple fact that she was the animal, and he didn't want her near that psycho physically or even in name.

Clad in a plain tee, shorts and sneakers, he jogged, with Reggie running ahead of him on the fixed leash. Since they were sticking to the streets, and not the park, he didn't want her to wonder onto the busy road.

He found out long ago, in his training days, that running could be a mindless thing. At the point of exhaustion, your body just reacts instinctively. He wished he could have that right now. He transitioned between, jogging, walking, running, walking, jogging, running, walking etc., with water breaks for them both.

It was almost three hours later when they made their way home. The pup was completely dead on her legs, and Shelby couldn't just drag her, so he carried the hot bundle of fur in his arms as he basically ambled home. It's been a while since he'd run like that, and his legs were a little shaky. He wanted to be mindless, to not be able to think, and he had succeeded. He was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, and hadn't noticed the black SUV that had been trailing him for the last several block.

He was a few blocks away from the house, when it pulled to the curb just in front of him. He gave it a glance, but thought nothing more about it as he walked passed. He wish he had, because it was too late to do anything as the back door opened, and a sac was thrown over his head.

Shelby dropped Reggie, who ran in confusion, as he tried to pull the sac off his head, but arms wrapped around him, preventing the reaction. He kicked, and struggled, trying to break the hold. He even waved his head around, and was satisfied, despite his own pain, when he heard the crunch of a broken nose. The hold on him was released, and he moved forward, yanking off the sac as he went, but only to end up getting punched in the face by a powerful right-hook. He fell to the ground, groaning, as his hands were bound in duck tape, along with his lips and he was thrown in the back of the SUV.

His last sight was of Ari, smiling at him from where he was twisted around in the passenger seat, before the sac was put over his head, and struck in the back of the head, with the two men who had grabbed him sitting on either side of him. He couldn't even remember his last thought before he passed out.

**chapter XIII break...**

Gibbs was on his way home, when there was a break in traffic on the last few blocks home. He wanted to stay at HQ and solve this thing before something happened to Shelby that couldn't be taken back, but he needed to check up on his son first, before he went back. He needed to find this bastard before he killed a bunch of innocent people.

He noticed almost too late, a dog wandering across the street. He slammed on the breaks with a squeal of tires, it jerking to a halt. He heard a whimper from the dog, but couldn’t see it. Did he hit it? This was the last thing he needed. He turned the engine off and got out of the car, coming around to the front. He froze as he saw the puppy, laying there on the ground, whimpering, tangled in its leash. This wasn't just any mutt that escaped from its yard, this was Shelby's dog, this was Reggie. But what—it hit him instantly. Something had happened to Shelby.

Gibbs quickly scooped up the exhausted Reggie into his arms and set her in the passenger seat after untangling her. He turned on the engine, and speed towards the house, he had to make sure that he wasn't there before he called Fornell.

" _What happened?"_ Fornell asked instantly.

"Shelby's gone!" Gibbs growled, on his way back to NCIS HQ, having checked the house. "He's not at the house, and I found Reggie wondering the streets."

" _Reggie_?" Fornell asked in confusion. " _Who's Reggie?"_

"His dog, Fornell!" Gibbs snapped. "That bastard took him!"

"If that's true, then that means Shelby's insurance, he's starting his plan!"

"I know. I'm heading back to NCIS."

" _Alright, I'll met you there."_

"I swear, Tobias, if we don't find him—"

"I know, Jethro, we will."

They hung up at the same time.

**chapter XIII break...**

Gibbs stormed from the elevator, Reggie in his arms.

"Hey, boss." DiNozzo said.

Kate looked at Gibbs as he walked passed and she saw what was in his arms. "Hey, isn't that—" She started, but then stopped as the blow hit her. She jumped to her feet. "Where's Shelby?!" She demanded.

"The bastard took him." Gibbs voice was hot with anger, as he put Reggie in his chair.

"What!" Kate exclaimed.

"The terrorist that we've been hunting, has kidnapped Shelby Jackson Gibbs, as leverage, so the lead on the case won't make a move, so he can complete his act of terrorism." Fornell informed them as he came from the elevator and entered the bullpen.

"When?" Kate asked, looking between the two older men.

"Sometime this afternoon," Fornell informed them. "That's our best guess, at least. Gibbs didn't discover him missing until half-an hour ago."

"But that was hours ago!" McGee gasped. They all knew the rules of kidnapping victims, it was left unsaid, but they all knew.

"This is different!" Kate snapped, having gone over to Reggie and was petting her soothingly.

"She's right, McGee." DiNozzo finally spoke. "He's gonna have to keep Shelby Jackson alive in order to leverage him. But why hasn't he contacted you yet, boss?"

"I don't think he intended to move this quick," Gibbs finally spoke, his voice tight. "If he thought his plan was going to go off without a hitch, then he wouldn't have needed to take Shelby as leverage, so we must have been closing in on his plan, getting close without even realizing it. And it spooked him. Let's run through this once more time, and see what we got! This bastard is going down,"

"We have two victims," DiNozzo started. "We have a Marine Instructor, found tortured. Obviously, he had information that the killer wanted. We still have no idea what that might be."

"And our second victim is a Navy Pilot." McGee said. "He was shot, and then his hands were taken. We discovered that he also worked for an Aerospace Contractor, and found that a Drone under construction was missing, and that the Controller, needed finger prints to operate. We believe that this is what the terrorist will use as his weapon."

"Our own weapons against us." DiNozzo said.

"Is that all?" Gibbs growled.

"We still don't know what the terrorist wanted with the Instructer," Kate pointed out, she needed to get her head in the game in order to save Shelby from God knows what that bastard was doing to him right now. "That's the missing piece to this whole thing, it's the key. It has to be,"

"McGee," Gibbs turned to his youngest Agent, as something suddenly came to him like a whack on the back of the head. In his gut, he knew that he was onto something. "Find out what's happening with the school in the next few days, anything with big groups." He ordered.

"On it, boss." McGee quickly sat behind his desk and rapidly typed on his keyboard. It felt like ages, and Gibbs was growing impatient, he was about to snap when the younger man finally piped up. "Found something! In five days there's a Medal of Honour Ceremony being held at the school."

Fornell shook his head. "That's too far, McGee."

"Okay. There the Cadets' Graduating Ceremony. That's tomorrow, boss, in the afternoon." McGee said, looking up.

"That's it!" Fornell agreed.

"So, are we thinking that's why the instructor was killed, he had information on the Ceremonies taking place that this guy needed?" DiNozzo asked.

"It has to be," Kate said. "There's nothing else it could be."

"Boss, I've been doing some research on the Drone that was taken, and I discovered that it only has a forty-mile radius. It can't be launched out of that zone." McGee informed them.

"That narrows it down to forty-miles around the school, but that's still not enough." Gibbs said. "I want the location of this bastard by morning!" He shouted at them as he left the bullpen and went upstairs to MTAC to inform the Director of their recent discoveries.

Having updated the Director, he was on his way out when his phone rang. He looked at the number, the team couldn't have found something already in the ten minutes he was gone. He was right, the number was blocked. He snapped at one of the techs to put a trace on the call, before answering. He knew exactly who this was, and he answered accordingly.

"Bastard." Gibbs said into the phone.

A musical laughter answered in return. " _Special Agent Gibbs, it is a pleasure to finally have the opportunity to speak with you_!"

"Where is my son?" Gibbs growled.

" _Do not worry, Agent Gibbs, I won't harm a hair on his head_ — _I apologise…_ **again**." He corrected himself. " _You see, dear Shelby and I were in a similar situation not too long ago."_

Gibbs tensed further. Was this bastard saying that he was the one that had previously tortured Shelby? How had the FBI not made that connection?! Gibbs' anger notched up.

" _No harm with come to your son,"_ Ari continued. " _If you back off."_ Gibbs could hear movement in the background, and then a tearing sound, before gasping. _" **Get off me, you bastard**!"_ Gibbs could hear Shelby yell.

"If you touch him—" Gibbs snapped.

" _Do you catch my point, Agent Gibbs?"_ Ari interrupted. " _Do you not think that I do not have alternate plans that consist of the whole American Alphabet?"_ He waited a moment for his words to sink in. " _Have a goodnight, Gibbs. I'll see that your son does."_ And he clicked off the line.

Gibbs was fuming, and it took everything he had not to smash his phone. That bastard had his son, he'd been so close, yet so far. He spun around to the tech. "Tell me you got him!"

"Yes, sir." The tech instantly replied. "We were able to trace the call to a grid thirty-miles out of Norfolk, in the Newport News area. The only thing around are abandoned warehouses, sir."

Gibbs felt a bloodlust settle over him. He had the bastard and the bastard didn't even know it. No matter how this ended, two things were going to happen. He was going to get his son back alive, and he was going to be the one to kill that bastard and no one was going to stop him.

 **chapter XIII end** —

 


	15. XIV

When Shelby regained consciousness, he was in complete darkness. For a moment, he didn't know where he was or what had happen. But as he struggled, and found that he couldn't move, he remembered that Ari had gotten to him. His head throbbed as he flashed back to his first experience with Ari, and if his mouth wasn't duct-taped, he would have puked, otherwise he would have drown in his own vomit, so he swallowed down the bile. His ears were ringing, and despite the darkness in the sac, he knew that someone was out there, in the same room, very near. And instinctively he knew that it was Ari.

The terrorist was talking, but not to him. He couldn't hear anyone else reply, so he must be on the phone. Who could he be talking to? Was it one of his cohorts? If Ari had taken him, that could only mean that he was moving forward with his plan, and Shelby was a bargaining chip to stall his father. Could that be who Ari was speaking with?

He was deep in thought, and startled when the sac was ripped from his head. He wasn't blinded by bright light, but met with a dimness. Shelby struggled in his restraints as Ari stood over him, holding the phone from his ear as he finished, "If you back off." And then he felt the sting of the tape being ripped from his mouth.

"Get off me, you bastard!" Shelby shouted.

Ari smirked at him in return, and before Shelby could curse him out any further, the man stuffed nearly half the sac in his mouth, effectively gagging him. He put the phone back to his ear, and spoke, as Shelby tried not to choke on the material nearly crammed down his throat. "Do you catch my point, Agent Gibbs?" Ari said succulently. "Do you not think that I do not have alternate plans that consist of the whole American Alphabet?" He waited a moment for his words to sink in. "Have a goodnight, Gibbs. I'll see that your son does." 

And he clicked off the line.

Shelby was barely able to use his tongue to push the material from his throat, as he glared hot and angry at his second-time captor. Ari kept smiling at him.

"For you own sake, Shelby, hope that your father does as I say."

" _Fahk ooh!"_ Shelby tried to tell him around the forced-gag, struggling against his restraints despite knowing that it was no use.

Though gagged, his words weren't hard to understand, and Ari chuckled. "Oh, how I have missed this!" He reminisced. "Just like old times, hm?"

Shelby swallowed convulsively as he glared at the smiling man, as saliva filled his mouth, and he could taste the dirty material.

"Don't be like that, Shelby. We are friends, are we not? I think we are," Ari murmured; Shelby never realized who nuts this man was until now. "And friends share, don't they? So let me tell you my plan—it will be done before a chance of escape or rescue comes." He grabbed another chair that must have been behind Shelby, and placed it in front of the man, turning it backwards, and straddling it, laying his arms across the back. "My original target was going to be an award ceremony for returning officers—military as well as civilians would have been killed. But your father was too close and I had to move my plans ahead of schedule, and now have to target an officer graduation ceremony—it will be a much smaller body count, and there will be no camera crews present—but I suppose that it will still have the desired effect. Of course, it won't be a clear get-away as I had previously hoped—now that Gibbs knows it was I who tortured you before." Shelby couldn't help the shudder that passed through him as Ari continued to muse, "I'm going to have to kill him, it's the only way." He looked at Shelby. "And you, of course. You are a loose end that I cannot have."

Ari finally stood up from his chair, and wandered to the other side of the large, cement room, and left through a door, leaving Shelby alone.

Shelby was glad that Ari hadn't covered his head again. As much as he'd rather have his mouth taped instead of gagged, he'd rather be gagged than blind. He looked around the room, and by the layout and structure of it, summarized that he was in a warehouse. As far as he could tell, he was alone, but he wouldn't put it passed Ari if there was a camera, and even someone hidden in the shadows. Whether there was actually someone there with him or not, he got the chills anyway.

He needed to get out of here. He needed to kill Ari before his father did something stupid that got him and Kate killed in the process. But how could he possibly do it? In the eight months that he had previously been held captive and subsequently tortured, he had never once been able to escape—or even attempt to. Ari was acting on his plan at this very moment, and in this same moment his father was acting on countering it. Shelby was helpless. He had no other choice but to sit tight, and wait and hope, for his father to succeed.

**chapter XIV break...**

NCIS and the FBI had split up. The FBI would be in Norfolk, at the ceremony, evacuating the people, while NCIS arrived at the warehouse.

It was quiet, Kate thought, the quiet before the storm. She wondered how bad it would get. Could they save all those people? Stop the bastard and save those innocent people? But more, could they save Shelby? As much as she didn't want all those people to die, her heart was for Shelby. She knew, despite the hostile expression on Gibbs' face, he felt the same. If he lost Shelby, he would have nothing left. And Kate didn't want to think about what it would do to him, or what it would do to her. No matter how this turned out, they had to get Shelby back alive, anything other than that was unacceptable.

The warehouse that was Ari's center of operation was well hidden, but the signs that it was occupied were obvious. But the most evident thing was the guy that suddenly came to the edge of the roof when they pulled in, and started to fire at them. The team dove for cover behind the car, all except for Gibbs, who stood his ground, aimed the shotgun in his hands, and blasted the terrorist away.

"Get up and get ready," Gibbs barked at them, as they slowly came out of hiding. "Kill every man in sight, but the bastard belongs to me. Stop the Drone, and find Shelby. Kate, you're with me. Let's move!"

They squared their shoulders, made sure their safety’s were off, and had plenty of ammo, and went in opposite directions.

Let the hunt begin.

**chapter XIV break...**

Shelby was so started by the first shots fired, that he almost toppled in his chair. His dad—his dad was here! He had to be, why else was there shooting. Shelby never once doubted Gibbs, the older man may have become emotionally distant ever since mom and Kelly had been killed, but never once had he faltered in his training. Gibbs was a soldier through and through, once a Marine always a Marine. But Shelby also realized that it was too dangerous for him to just sit here and wait to be rescued like a damsel in distress—he needed to prove himself, to clear his name of aiding the enemy. He couldn't disappoint his father, and he didn't want Kate to look at him like he was scum.

The chair he was bound to was made of wood, and he knew that the quickest wait to get out, was to break the chair. But he knew that it would make too much noise—despite the gun fire—and if he was caught in the act, he knew that Ari would no longer hesitate to paint anything within range with his brain.

His restraints weren’t rope, but duct tape—which he was grateful. Though the tape was applied liberally, leaving him securely bound, it was easier to work with than rope or chain—which had been used when Ari had him before.

The room was dim, but his eyes were used to it after a few hours. He needed to find something that he could get his hands on to cut through the tape on his wrists. The sound of gunfire moved to the back on his mind as he slowly gazed around the area. There! In the far corner, there were abandoned wood pallets, there had to be something there that could help free him.

Ari had been thorough in binding him. His ankles were taped to the legs. His torso to the backing, and his wrists behind his back. He wasn't going to be able to just walk over there. He was going to have to shuffle on his toes—and if he were to fall... first, it would hurt; he could land on his shoulder, or worse, he could crush his hands beneath him. But he needed to try either way.

Taking a deep breath, he gently rocked back, before putting a little more energy in it, and rocking forward. It took him multiple tries before he was able to finally get on his sneakered toes without crashing to the floor. The position was awkward, and already he could feel the strain in his muscles, but he ignored it and tittered forward.

He found that he had to pee, which didn't help in the matter, but he was concentrating so hard on his task, that the urge fell to the back on his mind. It felt like forever, with multiple stops and near topples, before he was a few feet away from the pallets, and figured that he could set down here, and just scoot forward. But he was off balance, out of breath, and the muscles in his legs were strained and wobbly. When he went to sit back, he did it too hard, and the angle must have been wrong, because there was this splintering sound that he could have sworn was as loud as a shot, as one of the back legs snapped.

He let out a muffle yelp of surprise as he went down, falling backward and to the side. His scream of pain was thoroughly snuffed by his gag as he fell full weight onto his shoulder, but that hadn't been what caused him such pain, his elbow was crushed with the weight of his body, where it was hooked around the edge of the back of the chair, and the solid cement ground.

He whimpered whenever he moved, which was when he breathed, and even when he didn't. He needed to get off his arm, but how? He was like a tortoise on its back. The only thing that had broken on the chair was the leg, the rest of it was still intact; the legs that his ankles were taped to; the seat; and the back—he was thoroughly turtled. The only thing that he could think of was if he rocked. If he created enough momentum, maybe he would be able to flip around onto his uninjured side. It was the only thing, but it would be painful, grinding his broken elbow with his full weight—he would turn it to dust. But he couldn’t just stay here like this, choking on his gag, like a pathetic traitor.

He gasped through his nose, trying to get the courage. He'd been through worse things, he told himself. He'd felt worse pain than this. A broken elbow was nothing to the things that Ari had done to him for eight months. He was not going to let Ari kill him like this, he wasn't. A boo-boo like this was not going to drag him down. He was not going to give up. He was not going to lose Kate and Gibbs, and Reggie, too. He wondered if the dog was okay, whether she'd been hit by a car in the street, or if someone had found her. He wondered if Gibbs and Kate were still alive, the continued gunfire gave him hope that they were.

One more deep breath, and he started to rock. He cried out the whole time, he couldn't help it. But he started to become grateful to the gag snuffing out the anguish, as hot tears blurred his vision, as he murdered his elbow. He needed to get onto his other side. Like running, at the point of exhaustion, he got tunnel vision, not matter the pain, he needed to keep going.

**chapter XIV break...**

McGee and DiNozzo made their way up to the roof, that was where the younger Agent had deduced would be the best place to launch and pilot the Drone, while Gibbs and Kate, slowly worked their way through the inside of the building.

Though they knew that Ari was the leader of this attack, they didn't think that he'd be the one at the controller. No, the bastard was smart enough to know that would be one of Gibbs’ main targets, but knew that Gibbs wouldn't head that front, not if he had Shelby.

Gibbs and Kate were pinned down right now, inside the warehouse, by three terrorists, all with automatic weapons. They'd already killed five men, and were nearly through the building with neither a sign of Ari or Shelby.

Gibbs quickly took a shot of as one of the men was reloading, and with expert aim, hit his target. He was never one to miss. He was stuck behind a support beam that was barely big enough to cover his broad shoulders, while Kate was crouched behind a few crates. The remaining two terrorist had a wide berth from the Agents. One was hidden up in the dimness of a catwalk, while the other took cover behind some rusted barrels.

The short, continued bursts that one terrorist focused on Kate, was slowly, but surely eating away at her cover, and soon, there would be none left; she needed to make her move soon. She checked her clip, she had eight shots in her gun. She knew it was enough and didn't trouble herself with reloading. Her ears had become attuned to the sound of their gunfire, and she could distinguish which terrorist was shooting, by the sound of their gunfire.

She waiting where she was crouched, pinned, her breath steady, her hands firm despite the adrenaline coursing through her. She thought of Shelby, and how much she loved him, and how she knew her life would never be the same if something had happened to him—and then her moment came. She could hear it in the pitch of gunfire, the terrorist on the catwalk that had her pinned, paused to reload.

Smooth breath in, she breathed. She jumped to her feet, stance strong. Her outstretched arms steady in front of her as she quickly set her sights on her target in the dim. Ignoring the trading shots of Gibbs and the second terrorist. As hers brought up his reloaded weapon, she fired three following shots, instantly dropping behind cover as the last shot rang. There was a grunt, and thump of the body falling to the catwalk, and a clatter as the gun fell to the floor, miss firing.

Now Kate reloaded and both she and Gibbs concentrated their fire on the final terrorist—they finished him within three minutes.

"Tony, report." Gibbs barked into the mic. around his throat, once he was sure that they were both unharmed.

" _The Drone's already been launched, boss!"_

 _"_ Did you stop it?"

" _McGee's working on it right now, but he's locked out."_

"I want that Drone stopped, DiNozzo. Destroy that controller!"

" _Boss, I'm not sure if that will work_!" McGee told him.

"Do it!" Gibbs ordered. It was the only option, he just hoped that it was the right decision. Both Agents heard the report of multiple shots from the roof and DiNozzo reported back instantly.

" _The controller's destroyed. We saw the explosion in the sky, so it didn't get to its target. What about you, boss? The bastard? Shelby Jackson?"_

Gibbs hadn't let the weight of the Drone off his shoulders, as he was reminded that they hadn't seen any sign of Ari or Shelby. He didn't like that one bit. When the team finished clearing the warehouse, that was what they found—neither man. Gibbs' gut told him that Ari was at a different location with Shelby as his captive, but knew that there were close.

"He here," Gibbs growled. "He wouldn't want to miss watching his plan succeed, or even fail. And we're going to find him."

And they headed out in search.

**chapter XIV break...**

Gibbs was right, of course. Ari was in the same warehouse district with Shelby, a few warehouses down from where the Drone was launched. He was several alternate plans consisting of the complete alphabet, that was the kind of man he was. Methodical. He had a back up plan for the back up plan for the back up plan for the backup plan etc.

He had set up a camera, and watched as Team Gibbs ruined his Drone attack, and though he was angered by this, he had several other plans he could execute... but in retaliation for Gibbs not taking his _suggestion_ seriously, he was going to make the other man suffer, and he knew just the way to do that—through his son Shelby.

**chapter XIV break...**

Shelby realized that he must have blacked out from the pain, because the next time that he blinked his eyes, he was no longer on the floor, tied to a broken chair, with a broken elbow trapped beneath all his weight. Of course, he still had the broken elbow—he could feel the hot throb of it, the sharp twinges that were constantly sent up and down his arm—and he was still tied to a chair—but it was a different one. This one was not broken. This one had arms on it. He was taped securely, just as last time, but his left arm wasn't—but that did not give him an advantage—the broken limb was useless to him. He was sitting upright, the gag still stuffed in his mouth, sodden with his saliva, his chin wet with slobber.

All the things that he noticed, even before his new chair, was the fact that he could feel the sun on him, but couldn't see it for the fact of the blindfold wrapped around his eyes, and the wind through his sweaty hair. He knew that he was on the roof.

He remembered all the gunfire, and felt sick. He could no longer hear any. Did that mean that his father and Kate were dead? It was all he could come up with, with no more gunfire, and the fact that Ari still had him. He couldn't stop the sob that welled in his throat, but the sac in his mouth could. The tears that came from his eyes, soaked the blindfold but did nothing more.

Then he heard that handsome, sick, musical laughter that Ari had, coming from right in front of him, it seemed—though he couldn't sense anyone else near—and the tears grew hot like fire as he was filled with glacier-like anger.

" _Do not worry, my dear Shelby_ ,"

Shelby finally heard the crackle, and realized that Ari was not speaking to him in person, but through a radio. That angered him even more, the bastard didn't even have to guts to do this in person.

" _Your father and lover are not yet dead."_

Shelby's tears stopped, not because he trusted Ari's word, but because they gave him hope. He listened closely now.

" _Agent Gibbs has sabotaged my attack, but as you well know from experience, you know that I am not lacking in alternate plans. You have been a thorn-in-my-backside as the saying goes... so I plan to rid of you."_

Shelby's heart rate kicked up. Was this it? After all he had gone through, was Ari finally going to kill him?

" _I want you father dead as well!"_

This was when Shelby realized that what Ari had spoken earlier was the truth, and while he felt relief, he felt fear kick in as well as the terrorist continued to speak.

" _When your father finds you_ — _and he will, as I will allow it_ — _I will let him take that unhindered breath of saving his last child, before I kill you in his arms, and as he screams in anguish at your death, I will end his life as he holds your body in his arms."_

There was radio silence as Ari finished his tirade, and Shelby was left alone with a sick feeling. Blinded, bound and gagged. How could he ever stop this? Though his knew his father, and believed that Gibbs wouldn't let himself run out to Shelby unless he knew that Ari wasn't out there with them in his crosshairs—as Shelby had come to realized—that man knew that Gibbs would be too overcome by fatherly-instinct, that his Military and NCIS training would be drowned, and he'd rush into this.

His jaw was locked, and aching, it were as wide as they possibly could go, and he even as he tried to push the gag from his mouth with his tongue, he knew that it was no use—he thought that when his father came—and he knew that Gibbs would—he could tell him about Ari and make him stay back—but it wasn't going to happen.

He needed to move. That was it, he knew. The only thing was, after what happened the last time... he wasn't so sure. At least he wasn't blind-folded than, and he had been on the ground floor. This time, he was on the roof, and blind-folded. How was he supposed to know how far Ari had put him from the roof’s edge? He couldn't be sure if this particular warehouse if it was just a flat ledge, or if there was a rail or wall. What if Ari booby-trapped around him, to prevent him from trying to escape, veering from his plan—something that had already occurred and he didn't seem to happy about that.

But Shelby wasn't a chicken. He'd been tortured by this man for eight months and hadn't given a inch, not until he came back, at least. And he was sick of doing that. He didn't want to feel ashamed anymore.

He clenched his teeth as much as he could, as he tensed his muscles in preparation of the move, and felt the sharp, jolting pain in his arm. He was not going to do it the way he had before, on his toes; now he was to push across the roof as if it were a chair at a desk or the kitchen table. He chose to push backwards because that was the easiest, and would try to turn by pushing more with one leg than the other. He could hear the scrape of the legs on the cement roof, but could feel the jutter of gravel scattered around.

He sensed, and then felt it really harshly, instead of hearing it. The bullet, he knew it for what it was, as tore the flesh in his calf, before embedding itself in the bone. Shelby's teeth unclenched, and his body pushed against the restraints as a muffled cry tore from his throat. Ari had shot him, from his sniper's perch, and Shelby assumed hit the intended mark. The terrorist didn't like the way he was moving about, so he stopped it effectively. Shelby no longer dared move, for fear of being shot again and not knowing whether it was coming or not.

It could have been five feet, it could have been ten. Shelby didn't know, and wouldn't be able to find out. He did as much for his father as he could. He just hoped he'd helped, instead of making things worse for the older man.

**chapter XIV break...**

Gibbs knew that they couldn't continue on as they were. They couldn't possibly know where Ari was hiding Shelby. It was only his gut telling him that Shelby was here. Despite everything in himself, he was going to recall the others, this wasn't working, but stopped when he heard something. It wasn't a gunshot or a car, no, it was something more than that.

Gibbs paused. Not moving as he let all the things around him filter through until he caught it again. It was a human sound, a Shelby sound—he knew it in his bones—and it was close. Right next to him actually, and above. Before he even realized it, he was already moving.

 **chapter XIV end** —

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that this chapter left you wanting more, because I have one more chapter left in the mix for Firefly.


	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the last chapter for Firefly with a returning character that we haven‘t seen for a while to join in this last hurrah. I hope that you enjoy it!

Shelby moaned, but it sounded more like a gurgle, as he felt someone’s hands on him. He was blinded, and disoriented, and his first instinct was to fight back. But then a familiar voice entered his ears, and he knew that this wasn’t Ari—it was his father. Shelby couldn't help himself, he started to cry. It was so powerful that his body shook with it, even as Gibbs cut away the tape. But he choked his sobs off as he suddenly realized that his dad was _here_ — **here!**

"Dad! Get out of here! Ari—!" Shelby yelled, not even noticing that Gibbs had already taken the gag out _and_ the blindfold, before he had started to cut away the tape.

"It's okay, Shelby. I'm here..." Gibbs told him. He was about to say more, but Shelby had already passed out.

**chapter XV break...**

The instant Shelby came awake, he came up fighting. If he hadn't been on such good pain-killers, he probably never made it to the sitting-up position—he barely made it to that, too, before he was pushed down.

"Shelby, calm down. You're in the hospital." He heard his father's voice explain. It was calm and it was strong, and it made Shelby focus.

"Dad?" Shelby asked, his voice cracking and his jaw aching.

"Yeah, I'm here." Gibbs said, at the side of the bed, looking down upon his son. This seemed to be a common occurrence.

"You're okay? Ari—" Shelby started, already on the rise again, but Gibbs gently pushed him back. He winced as he discovered that his left arm was suspended in a sling from some bars above his head, and his leg on the same side was propped up on a pillow.

Gibbs nodded down at his son, relief evident in his blue steel gaze. "Dead." He said simply.

"D-dead?" Shelby repeated, unable to believe it.

"Yeah. Do you want to hear?" He was sure that Shelby did, but he wanted to make sure after everything he had gone through.

Shelby swallowed before he nodded silently. How he had wished to hear that for so long, and how he never believed it would come true.

Gibbs sat down again in the chair by the bed, and took his son's right hand firmly in his own. "We were closing in on Ari's target, we were so close that he grew scared and moved up his plan—that was the reason he took you, to use you as leverage. I found out that you were gone before he called me, but when he did, we traced the call and found out where he was going to launch the Drone. We raided the warehouse and stopped the Drone before it could hurt anyone, but we couldn’t find you or the bastard." He stopped for a second, just a second as he remembered the fear in that moment—to anyone who didn't know the man, they’d’ve thought he was just taking a breath to continue on, but Shelby knew differently. Shelby remembered when he had heard the gunfire, he knew that it had been his father, and as always, close yet so far away. "In my gut, I knew that you were close by. But the area was big, and it was only the four of us, and there was so little time. But I found you, I heard you cry-out." Shelby knew what that must have been, when Ari had shot him. "I wanted to run to you, to kill that bastard, but in my gut I knew that it was a trap." Shelby wondered if that had been the real reason why Ari had shot him, not because he was moving around, but because his father had been so close by. "I called Abby, and we were lucky enough to have a satellite passing over that area at the time that we were there—She was able to find you on the roof top, and that bastard a 100 yards out at a sniper perch." Shelby squeezed Gibbs' hand, this was it, the part that he most wanted to hear. "I had been right, it was a trap. When I rushed onto the roof, Ari would have been able to kill you and me both, and get away cleanly. But I sent the others to intervene—"

"Kate?" Shelby interrupted, he couldn't help the fear that he felt. Was she alive? Was she safe? Why wasn't she here too?

"Don't worry, Shelby. Kate fine, she'll be here soon." Gibbs assured him. Shelby nodded, and the man continued with his story. "While I made my way to you, Kate and the others converged on Ari's location. There was a fire-fight, but they won-out in the end. Kate's the one that killed him. Once I knew that it was safe for the both of us, I ran out to you. You were already passed-out, I was already half-way through your restraints before you woke up. You told me to 'get out' before passing-out again. I was worried, Shelby." Gibbs told him, which was something new to the both of them—admitting it at least.

Shelby couldn't help but smile at his father. "We're all fine, aren't we?"

"Yeah." Gibbs nodded. "We're all fine."

"Dad?"

Gibbs nodded for him to go on.

"What's going to happen to me?" Shelby grew nervous as he asked the question, dreading what the answer might be. "I collaborated with the enemy—"

"No!" Gibbs barked, stopping him. "That bastard threatened your life, threatened you family. You did what you had to do, Shelby. And in the end, you fought. _That_ 's what counts. I'm proud of you, son."

The words had to sink in for a moment before Shelby finally nodded, realizing that his dad wasn't just humouring him.

"Hey," Kate said softly from the door, breaking the serious silence.

Shelby looked at her as she came into the room, and all his previous fears washed away as he took in the love of his life. "Hi," he said faintly.

Gibbs gave his son's hand one last squeeze before he got up and left the room, letting the two of them have a moment, just like when Shelby returned from his tour.

When Kate reached the bed, she instantly took his hand. She wanted so much to hug him, to never let him go, but she knew she'd just end up hurting him and causing it to be awkward. So she leaned forward, and she kissed him. She kissed him like it was the first time, like it was the last time, and like it was all the times in-between. And they swam in that feeling for as long as they could, dived into each other, before being forced to part for breath. But Kate didn't pull completely away, and pressed her forehead to his, looking him in the eyes.

"I love you," Shelby whispered, he felt tears prick his eyes.

"I love you too, Shelby." She smiled and pecked his lips gently. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm alright," he told her.

She didn't look convinced.

"I am." He said firmly. "None of that really matters; as long as I have you, nothing can go wrong."

She kissed him again, before sitting back, but never letting go of his hand—it was like she needed to be touching him; if she let go he might just float away. She'd almost lost him again, and now that she had him back, she never wanted to let go. So she stayed there was long as she could, holding him, looking at him, taking him in, before she knew that she had to let go, at least temporarily, and share him.

"I have a surprise for you," she told him.

He looked both wary and curious.

"You can come in," she called. She stood and moved, freeing his sight-line to the door.

"Grandpa!" He called happily, as he watched the old man shuffle in, but that wasn't all, in his hand was a leash, and attached to that leash was… "Reggie?" Shelby couldn't believe it.

The hug with Jackson was hard to do, but the little pain that it caused was worth it, as the old man pecked his cheek. "How are you doing there, Shelby?" He asked, sitting in the chair that Kate had been sitting in, and Gibbs before her, where he bent down and hefted the exited Reggie onto the bed.

Shelby didn't care that she jolted him when she jumped on his chest, happy to have her master back. He was so happy that she was okay, that she was found and hadn't been hit by a car. He was so glad, he let her lick his face for a moment, before pushing her away. She curled up at his left side, her head resting on the crook of his shoulder, he could feel the puff of her breath against the side of his neck and ear.

"I'm doing fine now," Shelby chuckled, rubbing Reggie's velvet-like ears with his right hand. "I'm glad you're here, grandpa."

"You worry me to the bone, boy." Jackson sighed.

"I don't mean to," Shelby told him.

"I know," Jackson nodded and gave a small smile. "Neither can I."

"How'd you get Reggie in here?" Shelby asked them, as the puppy slowly fell asleep. "Aren't they strict about it?"

Kate and Jackson shared a look.

"Let's just say I had to throw a little weight around," Kate said.

"Who can refuse a harmless old man like me?" Jackson added.

Shelby laughed. Things were going to get better now, go back to normal, whatever normal would have been if Ari hadn't come to Washington D.C.

**chapter XV break...**

Nearly a weak later Shelby was discharged, and returned home. His leg was still healing, so he limped, and he had a heavy, full arm cast. He had to have surgery to remove the bullet from his leg, but more importantly, his elbow—which had been shattered, and needed to be put back together with some pins and screws. But he didn't want to go home, not yet, he wanted to see Ari.

When he said this they both denied the idea. Shelby had to plead his case.

"I _need_ to do this," Shelby told them with passion. "He's done all these things to me, and I need to see for myself that he's really dead. I can't until I see his body. I need to move on from this, but I can't until I know that he's out of my life for good."

They agreed, but reluctantly.

Ducky pulled out the drawer with his body, and left the two of them alone. Shelby had to take several deep breaths before he could actually lift the sheet to reveal Ari beneath. The man was truly dead. Shelby couldn't see any head wounds, and though he wasn't given any details on how Ari was killed, it was obvious now that they were torso wounds. He didn't care about that though; it didn't matter if it was painful or quick, all he cared about was the fact that this monster would finally leave him alone, for true this time.

Shelby looked at the dead man for a long time. He couldn't help but wonder what Ari could have been like if he hadn't been so evil—so eager to destroy others. But he didn't think on it long. What did it matter? That was not how the man was. He was dead anyway.

He covered Ari once more with the sheet, and pushed the drawer back in one-handed. "I hope you burn in hell." He whispered before closing to door tight, shutting him out from his life forever.

**chapter XV break...**

Shelby no longer limped, but his arm was still in a full cast, and would be for a while longer. And though it was hard doing things one-handed, he still got to do his most favourite thing—holding Kate's hand. That was what he was doing now, as they strolled in the park, her other hand holding Reggie's leash.

He loved her so much. He'd be nothing without her, he wouldn't know how to live. Though their relationship had been speared by harshness, they'd held onto each other and pulled through. He wanted to be with her forever. The thing that would help him accomplish that, was currently burning a hole in his pocket—he just needed the right moment to ask her.

They paused at the fountain, and while Kate was bent over, sipping the water, Shelby saw his chance.

He fished the ring box from his pocket, and dropped down to one knee. He just managed to get the box open as she stood back up, and turned back to him.

Shock, excitement, and fear flashed across her expression as she gasped, her hand to her mouth. "Shelby? What—?"

"Kate," Shelby said, his voice sweet with his love, "The first time that I met you, I knew that you were special—and it wasn't just because you used to protect the president. You are the first woman that I ever fell in love with, and the only one I want to ever love, and who would love me back. You're smart, beautiful, funny, carrying, strong, fearless, and full of love—will you Marry Me?"

"Oh my God, of course, Shelby!" Kate gasped. "I love you so much."

A grin split across Shelby's face as he pushed himself to his feet. He held the small box in the fingers of his left hand, and slid the ring onto her finger with his right. He couldn't help the breath of relief when it fit. Kate looked at it on her hand, squealed, and jumped into his arms. Shelby squeezed her as tight as he could with one arm, as Reggie jumped around them in curiosity at the commotion.

"We're going to be together forever, Kate." Shelby whispered in her ear. "I will never stop loving you."

 **Firefly finished** —

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that this happy ending did it for you. I just wanted Shelby and Kate to have that happy ending that they both deserved after the things that they had been through. Please tell me your thoughts—whether it's your happiness at this ending, or your anger at it. Anything you want, so please review and thanks for reading this to the end! : )

**Author's Note:**

> Can you guess who the "Lap Dog" is?


End file.
